Crystals
by bricann
Summary: Atlantis had sunk nearly ten thousand years ago. Its culture and people dying, Atlantis' prince heads to the surface in search of help or at least some answers of how to save his people. He makes a promise to return in five years. But when he makes friends that he shares such dark times with, will he be able to leave them for his original home? To protect the Crystal of Atlantis...
1. Prologue

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

 **Hey, guys! I know this seems a bit young for an author my age to be writing, but I honestly don't care. I have loved Atlantis: The Lost Empire since I was a small child it just came out. It has always been my favorite Disney movie.**

 **As such, I thought, "Hey! Why not make a crossover with it and make it a bit different as well?" So I made this story. I hope you like it!**

Prologue

Screams rang through the air as the warning bell sounded out. A giant wave unlike any other went towards a civilization unlike any other. Red lights from a giant crystal floating high in the sky shot around the area like spotlights trying to catch an actor. People raced to get to the shelters. Three of which was a family dressed in royal clothing: A mother, a father, and a young son.

The son dropped a toy and began to hurry towards it, but his mother held onto his hand. She kneeled down and pulled the boy in front of him. She told him in their native language, _"Don't, Yusei! Leave it!"_

Suddenly, a light came down upon the woman and boy. The woman turned, as if in a trance, and a crystal necklace around her neck caught the light. She stood up and turned, slowly letting go of her son's hand.

" _Mother!"_ the boy, Yusei, called as she was lifted into the air by the light. _"Mother!"_

His father ran up and wrapped his arms around the boy, putting his son's face into his chest as he said, _"Yusei, don't look!"_ The mother was soon enwrapped by the light and the light spun faster and faster and grew brighter until the entire city was wrapped in a cocoon of energy and it was slowly brought deep beneath the surface.

The boy cried as his father held him, but looked at his own crystal around his neck. Every one of his people had a crystal and it had an energy that supported them and their lives. But he knew his people were far from being safe, even after they are protected from the oceans.

. . .

Yusei was a well aged man now. He seemed as young as fifteen when, in truth, he was about ten thousand years old. His people were dying and losing their way. He knew he had to find help from the outside world.

" _Father, please,"_ Yusei begged as he kneeled before his father, who laid in his bed weak. _"I need to find help. I need to find the answers that lie outside this cave so we can find salvation. So we can save our people. Please, Father, let me go out there! I'll be back at a max of five years, if it even has to take that long. But I'll return, I promise!"_

" _Yusei…"_ he began weakly. _"I understand your feelings, but the Kings of Our Past-"_

" _The Kings of Our Past would weep if they could see what we've become. Let me make them proud. And you know if anything happens, you, Leayna, or Raron can find me. And I'll come back immediately. Please, Father…"_ he begged. _"Let me find a way to save you."_

" _Very well, Yusei. But I expect you back within five years,"_ his father agreed. _"If you're not back by then, I will send someone to retrieve you. Remember, Yusei,"_ he slowly touched his son's face, _"you're the only heir to our people. If we lose you, we lose more than ourselves alone. We lose everything."_

" _Yes, Father,"_ the young man agreed and ran off to do his job.


	2. Meeting of the Aesirs

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 1: Meeting of the Aesirs

It had been over four long years since Yusei made it to the surface. He was shocked when he first arrived. The sun, the air, the sights, everything was so different than what he had known. He was quick to find his way to an island like place he learned was called Satellite. He had left his Ketak in the junkyard, but checked on it regularly to ensure nothing happened to it.

After he arrived, he made friends with two surface dwellers known as Jack and Crow along with their foster mother, Martha. He had a few struggles with Jack and it wasn't until they were both marked as Signers, the Crimson Dragon's protectors of light and peace, and they faced the Dark Signers, their polar opposites, that they actually made up. Along the way, he also made a couple news friends: Akiza, Luna, and Leo.

Six months after that fight, a new threat approached. It started with the Ghost and was soon revealed to be a group of three men: The Emperors of Yliaster. Their individual names: Lester who looked like a small boy, Primo who seemed like an average sized man, and Jakob who seemed like a wider and taller old man.

But no one knew his origins. No one had ever even seen his crystal. Crow and Jack didn't even know, and they had asked for him to talk for years. Eventually, though, the two friends gave up.

It was the evening before the semi-finals begun in the World Racing Grand Prix. Yusei, Jack, and Crow had stopped at the overlook to talk about the coming events.

"So our next opponent is Team Ragnarok," Jack commented.

"They're said to be tough opponents. They have three Nordic God cards and people say they have the Rune Eyes," Yusei commented.

"Doesn't that mean they're successors of some Aesir ground?" Crow asked.

"Yep," Yusei replied. "They're tough opponents by what I've heard. Especially with their god cards. According to what I've been told, their god cards aren't as tough as the legendary Egyptian God cards but they are tough nonetheless."

"Sounds like you think we'll be easy to beat," came a voice from behind.

They turned around and saw the three members of Team Ragnarok standing there. "Seems we finally meet somewhere other than a battlefield," Halldor stated.

"Seems so," Yusei responded.

"I say we should at least tell you about the Aesirs," Broder stated.

"Hmm, perhaps," Halldor agreed and immediately began to explain the tale of how the Aesirs came to be and how the members of Team Ragnarok came to obtaining the Aesirs. When the story was finished, Jack and Crow were a bit tense but Yusei was perfectly calm unmoved by their words which might shake another duelist. "You are right about one thing, Yusei. We are tough opponents. Tough enough where we will defeat you," Halldor responded to him.

"Do you really think you can stop Team New World?" Jack asked.

"Instead of going against Team New World apart, perhaps we should try to expose the plot of Team New World and help one another in that quest," Yusei suggested.

"No," Halldor declared. "The Aesir are not willing to enter an alliance with the Crimson Dragon's Signers. Especially with one who is in the bloodline of someone who caused pain and destruction."

Yusei tensed. "Zero Reverse was an accident," he told Halldor. "For the most part at least. Roman Goodwin was convinced to by Yliaster and caused it himself. Hakase- My father wanted to stop the project before Zero Reverse occurred."

"Is that so?" Halldor scoffed. "It was Professor Fudo's research that caused that explosion. It was his research."

"Either way, Halldor, it wasn't Professor Fudo's or Yusei's fault. Yusei was only a baby when Zero Reverse occurred," Crow defended.

"Even though it was his father's research, it wasn't his father who caused Zero Reverse. He tried to stop it, actually," Jack told them.

"You truly believe that?" Halldor asked. The two other Signer nodded.

"I'm shocked, Atlas. You seem liked you've changed quite a bit since the last time we dueled," Dragan stated.

"You fought him before, Jack?" Crow asked.

"Once," Jack replied, "and beat him too."

"Don't you remember that duel better, Jack?" Dragan asked.

"I do," Jack answered.

 **~Flashback~**

Jack drew his card as he took the first draw. "I summon Top Runner (Attack 1100/ Defense 800) in attack mode and set two face downs," he declared.

Dragan drew his card. "I summon Garmr of the Nordic Beasts (Attack 800/ Defense 1900) in attack mode and finish my turn with a face down," he proclaimed.

"I summon Power Breaker (Attack 1900/ Defense 0) in attack position. Now I turn Power Breaker with Top runner to synchro summon Red Dragon Archfiend (Attack 3000/ Defense 2500)! Now attack his Garmr!" Jack ordered his dragon. Red Dragon Archfiend attacked and destroyed Garmr.

The duel ran forward but eventually, Dragan lost the duel.

 **~Flashback Ended~**

"Did you know I was forced to lose of purpose by Lazar and Former Director Goodwin in order to raise money for my father's hospitalization?" Dragan asked. Jack tensed.

"Yusei, you spoke for a second like Hakase Fudo wasn't your real father," Broder commented.

"He's right," Halldor agreed. "Care to explain?" Yusei stayed silent. That's when Halldor's eye glowed and formed a rune. He then narrowed his eyes as he noticed something. "What is that glowing underneath your shirt?"

"Yusei, does this have to you with that history you never told us?" Crow asked.

"You don't know his history?" Dragan questioned, all three Aesirs were surprised by this development. What was he hiding even from his friends?


	3. Telling of Old

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 2: Telling of Old

"Yusei, you spoke for a second like Hakase Fudo wasn't your real father," Broder commented.

"He's right," Halldor agreed. "Care to explain?" Yusei stayed silent. That's when Halldor's eye glowed and formed a rune. He then narrowed his eyes as he noticed something. "What is that glowing underneath your shirt?"

"Yusei, does this have to you with that history you never told us?" Crow asked.

"You don't know his history?" Dragan questioned, all three Aesirs were surprised by this development.

"I only arrived in Satellite when I was fifteen. I met Jack and Crow almost immediately and things go from there," Yusei explained. "I haven't told anyone about my true history."

"Why?" Halldor asked. "If these two are one of your closest friends, why not tell them?"

Yusei looked down a bit. "Because it could endanger my people."

"Your people?" Dragan questioned.

"Yusei, tell us already," Jack ordered.

Yusei sighed. He brought out his crystal on his neck. They looked at the glowing crystal in awe. "This is a crystal of which every one of my people wear. It is connected to the Heart of our city. A giant crystal holding great power. Nearly ten thousand years ago, my father tried to use the crystal as a weapon of war. But he underestimated the power and it turned against us. It led to our destruction and trapped us below the earth and water where my people lay in hiding."

"And who are your people? It sounds almost like the story of Atlantis," Halldor questioned.

Yusei sighed. "The city I spoke about, my home… It _is_ the City of Atlantis." All of them went wide eyed in shock. "I was there the day the Great Flood nearly destroyed us all. The crystal, called the Heart of Atlantis, protected us and most of the city was spared. I can barely remember that day, I was so young. But I remember it."

"But, Yusei, that was nearly ten thousand years ago," Crow commented. "There's no way you've lived that long. It isn't humanly possible."

"The Heart of Atlantis is connected to us through our crystals. It thrives on the collective emotions on all who came before us. In return, it provides power, protection, longevity," Yusei began. They went wide eyed in realization. "Thanks to the crystals, my people have survived so long. But our people and our way of life is dying. I came to the surface in hopes to find help, or at least answers of how to save my people." He shook his head. "I haven't found anything."

"Why do you act like you're responsible for the Atlanteans well-being?" Halldor asked.

"My father is the king of Atlanteans. I'm his only child and son," Yusei replied. They realized it. "I'm the next in line to lead Atlantis. I promised my father I would return in five years. It's been four and a half since that."

"So you're leaving soon?" Broder realized.

Both Jack and Crow were silent in shock and worry. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Their friend had such a burden placed on him and they never knew. And he had been hiding everything about himself to protect his people along the way.

"Yes," Yusei answered. He turned a bit sad. "And I probably won't be coming back."

There was a moment of silence as the newly informed processed what they had just heard. After a few seconds, Halldor asked, "Yusei, you said this Heart of Atlantis thrives on the collective emotions of those who came before you, correct?" Yusei nodded. "Is it alive?"

"In a way," Yusei answered. "In times of danger, it chooses a host."

"Host?" Crow questioned.

"The Heart of Atlantis will choose a host in times of danger, one of royal blood to protect itself and its people," Yusei explained. "It won't accept anyone other than a royal blood member. It's how I lost my mother during the Great Flood."

"Your mother?" Dragan questioned.

"If the host remains bonded to the Heart too long, like my mother, they will remain lost to it forever," Yusei explained sadly. "During the time of the Great Flood, my mother was chosen as a host. She was taken and stayed with it too long. After that day, I never saw my mother again."

"And what's been happening to your people since then?" Halldor asked.

"Like I said before, we've been slowly dying. We've been able to live for so long, but we've lost so much over the years," Yusei explained. "Only me and my old friend Raron know how to ride a Ketak."

"Ketak?" Jack questioned.

"The stories where Atlantis was far passed the technology than what even today has is true," Yusei responded. "If you want to see what I mean, follow me." They took off.

They soon arrived in front of a stone fish looking, vehicle like contraption. Yusei took off his gem and placed it in the slot. He placed his hand on a pad and turned the gem. The machine came to life with glowing blue designs. Yusei sat on it as it floated in the air.

"Whoa…" Broder commented.

"This is a Ketak," Yusei told them. "There are different looks of these, but all are designed similarly to a sea lifeform." He gently put his hand on the pad and pushed it forward a bit. The vehicle shot off like a duel runner and took to the skies with ease.

"Now _that_ is cool!" Crow commented.

"Looks like Atlanteans really were advanced, even at that time," Dragan commented.

"It seems so," Halldor agreed.

Yusei soon came back and turned off his Ketak. "This is how I got here from Atlantis and how I will get back. My crystal helped as well."

"I honestly never believed in the tales of Atlantis. But to have a Ketak, as you called it, and a Atlantean in front of me, it actually seems to be real," Broder commented.

"To some, it would be too real," Yusei responded.

"What does that mean?" Jack questioned.

"The Leviathan has sunk many ships over the years to protect us from outsiders that were unwelcomed. And most of those outsiders were coming to take the Heart of Atlantis," Yusei explained.

"But that power was too much even for your people to control," Crow retorted.

"Doesn't mean people don't desire to take such power and use it for their own purposes," Yusei responded. "Besides, the only reason the Heart of Atlantis turned is because we were using its power for war. We are supposed to use its power to help ourselves and others for the better. We made the mistake of using its power for wrong purposes and it ended up with our destruction."

"Where is the crystal now?" Halldor asked.

"I know it's somewhere in Atlantis. But my father hid it somewhere that I don't know," Yusei explained. "All I know is that it's said 'the Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of its king.' To be honest, him hiding the Heart might be what's causing my people to suffer." He shook his head. "For now, though, we all need to get ready for the tournament."

"Agreed, Yusei," Halldor responded. "We shall take our leave now. And the next time we meet may not be as pleasant." Team Ragnarok left with that.

Yusei turned to leave as well when Crow called, "Yusei, will you really be leaving soon?"

"Unfortunately," he answered. "But hopefully we'll see each other again one day." The two friends gave a slow nod before leaving with him.


	4. Nova's Doubling Tuning

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 3: Nova's Doubling Tuning

"Duel fans of all ages, welcome to the semifinals where Team 5Ds is going up against the formidable Team Ragnarok! This will all boil down to what promises will be an incredible duel!" the MC called. Jack looked at Dragan who returned the gesture as they got ready to duel. The light flashed green and Jack and Dragan shot off like a bullet racing for the first turn. "And they're off!"

' _Be careful, Jack,'_ Yusei thought. _'There's something dangerous about this duel.'_

Jack was successful in taking the first turn and drew his card. "I summon Top Runner (Attack 1100/ Defense 800) in attack mode and set two cards face down to end my turn," Jack declared.

"Then it's my turn," Dragan stated drawing his card from his deck. "I summon Garmr of the Nordic Beasts (Attack 800/ Defense 1900) in attack mode and set a face down. That's all for now."

Jack drew his card. "If we're reliving that old duel then this might add it up. "I summon Power Breaker (Attack 1900/ Defense 0) in attack mode. Now I tune Power Breaker with Top Runner to synchro summon a beast of great power. Come forth, Red Dragon Archfiend (Attack 3000/ Defense 2000)!" Jack declared. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Garmr!"

"This will be different because I activate my face down known as Nordic Relic Brisingamen! This increases the attack of Garmr to equal the attack of Red Dragon Archfiend until the end phase (Garmr of the Nordic Beasts: Attack 3000)," Dragan returned. "Oh, and if Garmr destroys a monster by battle this turn, the attack of the destroyed monster will be inflicted to you as damage."

"Well I activate my face down, Reaction Summon to special summon Top Runner from my graveyard. And due to the effect of Top Runner, the attack of my face up synchro monsters increase by 600 (Red Dragon Archfiend: Attack 3600)," Jack retorted. Red Dragon Archfiend destroyed Garmr in the one attack dropping Dragan's life points to 3400. Jack groaned in pain and that's when both Team Ragnarok and Team 5Ds knew the all too real truth that damage was going to be felt and real. "Just keep dueling, Dragan. We'll finish this one way or another."

"You really have changed," Dragan replied with an impressed grin. He then returned to the duel and became deadly serious again, "Since a monster I destroyed was destroyed by battle, I can special summon Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts (Attack 800/ Defense 1100) from my hand in defense position."

Though Top Runner went to attack Tanngnjostr, it failed due to the attack and defense of both monsters being equivalent. Jack only attacked to prevent Top Runner from being destroyed by the effect of his demonic looking dragon which Yusei knew as him and his friends watched from the sidelines nervously.

"I set a face down to end my turn," Jack responded.

Dragan drew his card. "I switch my Tanngnjostr into attack position. Because it switched battle position, I can activate its effect allowing me to special summon Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts (Attack 1200/ Defense 800) from my deck in attack mode. And since you control a synchro monster, I can special summon Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts (Attack 1600/ Defense 1000) from my hand," he declared. "Now I tune my Tanngnjostr and Tanngrisnir with Guldfaxe to synchro summon Thor: Lord of the Aesir (Attack 3500/ Defense 2800)! Now I activate the effect of Thor which negates the effects of your Top Runner until the end phase and have Thor gain Top Runner's effect for this turn only (Red Dragon Archfiend: Attack 3000; Thor: Lord of the Aesir: Attack 4100). And now I think I'll have Thor attack that dragon!" Red Dragon Archfiend was destroyed and Jack's life points plummeted to 2900. "I set two face downs and end my turn." Since Dragan had ended his turn, Thor's attack points returned to its normal 3500.

Jack drew his card. "I summon Barrier Resonator (Attack 300/ Defense 800) in defense mode. Next I switch Top Runner to defense and end my turn with a face down," Jack declared.

"My draw!" Dragan exclaimed drawing his card. "I activate Thor's effect negating Top Runner's effect for you and allowing me to use it until the end phase (Thor: Lord of the Aesir: Attack 4100). Now I activate Nordic Relic Mjollnir allowing Thor to attack twice this turn and allowing Thor to inflict 1000 points of direct damage to you should he destroy a monster in battle. Now Thor, attack that Barrier Resonator!" Thor did as he was told and Barrier Resonator was destroyed resulting Jack life points dropping to 1900. Thor then attacked and destroyed Top Runner with Mjollnir activating and dropping Jack to a mere 900 life points.

"I activate Tuner's Reflect. This resummons both Barrier Resonator and Top Runner from my graveyard and inflicts battle damage straight to you equaling the combined attack points of the two monsters," Jack retorted and Dragan's life points dropped to 2000.

"I end my turn with one face down," Dragan declared and Thor's attack returned to his original 3500 again.

"I don't like this," Crow stated in the stands.

It was Jack's turn. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2. By removing four speed counters, I can inflict 800 points of damage for every speed spell in my hand," Jack declared. He showed his Speed Spell- End of the Storm making Dragan's life points drop to 1200. "Next I activate Descending Lost Star allowing me to summon Red Dragon Archfiend from the graveyard in defense mode with its effects negated, its defense reduced to 0 and its level reduce by 1 (Red Dragon Archfiend: Defense 0/ Level 7). Now I double tune Red Dragon Archfiend with Top Runner and Barrier Resonator to synchro summon a monster of extraordinary power," he declared.

"Double tuning?!" all three members of Team Ragnarok exclaimed in bewilderment.

"That's right. And with the power of this double tune, I will synchro summon my ultimate beast. Meet Red Nova Dragon (Attack 3500/ Defense 3000)!" Jack declared.

In the pit, Yusei and the others looked at the dragon shocked and amazed though Yusei still remained stoic and unmoved by the magnificent beast in appearance. He had felt something different within Jack's deck lately. And now he knew why. He was feeling this dragon and he had had a feeling Jack was going to use it eventually.

"Yusei, did you know he had this dragon?" Crow asked noticing his expression.

"No, not entirely. I had felt like there was something new within Jack's deck," Yusei replied. "I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it was going to be used eventually."

"Due to the effect of Red Nova, it gains 500 attack points for every tuner monster in my graveyard (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 4500)," Jack informed Dragan. "Now Red Nova attack Thor: Lord of the Aesir!"

' _That won't be enough, Jack,'_ Yusei thought.

"I activate Raging Sacred Curse!" Dragan responded. "This reduces Red Nova Dragon's attack and Defense by 2000 (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 2500/ Defense 1000). Next I activate Solemn Authority which prevents Thor from being affected by your trap cards for two turns."

"I activate Burning Rebirth!" Jack retorted. "By tributing Red Nova Dragon, I can special summon Red Dragon Archfiend (Attack 3000/ Defense 2000) from my graveyard." Red Nova vanished leaving Red Dragon Archfiend in its place with Red Dragon Archfiend equipped with Burning Rebirth. "Now I activate the second effect of Burning Rebirth. By sending it and my Trap Eater from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon Red Nova Dragon (Attack 3500/ Defense 3000) from my graveyard." Since Burning Rebirth was removed from the field, Red Dragon Archfiend was also destroyed. "Now since there are three tuner monsters in my grave, Red Nova gains 1500 attack points (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 5000). Now Red Nova Dragon, attack Thor: Lord of the Aesir!" The attack pulled through and destroyed Thor and knocking Dragan's life points to 0 making Jack the winner.

"Before I'm down for the count, Thor's ability activates reviving him at a full 3500 attack points and dealing 800 points of direct damage at you," Dragan finished.

As Jack's life points dropped to 100 points, Dragan passed the baton to Broder went after Jack with Thor still in tow.

Broder drew his card. "I set two face downs and activate Thor's effect which negates Red Nova Dragon's effect and grants Thor his effects until the end phase (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 3500)," he declared. "Now Thor, attack Red Nova Dragon!" As the attack hit, both monsters were destroyed due to the equaling attack points. Broder ended his turn reviving Thor and knocking Jack's life points to 0 with its effect making Broder the winner.

Jack came over and Crow took off.

' _Be careful, Crow,'_ Yusei thought.


	5. Tricking the Trickster

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 4: Tricking the Trickster

As Crow caught up to Broder, Bruno commented, "There are still two more of these god cards."

"Knowing Crow, he won't allow the second one to be summoned," Leo responded. He looked at Yusei and noticed his tense atmosphere around Yusei. "Something wrong, Yusei?"

He sighed and slowly said while looking at Crow through the monitor, "I just feel like this won't be as easy for Crow as you think. Broder is also known as the Trick Star, after all. And if the attacks and damage was real…" He shook his head. "We just have to hope Crow won't be hurt too bad. Crow will find a way, though." They looked back at the duel.

"I'll beat you in a second, Crow," Broder told the man.

"Don't underestimate me," Crow responded. He drew his card calling, "I'll bring out the power of my Blackwings." And the duel began. "Since you control a monster and I don't, I can summon Blackwing- Sirocco the Dawn (Attack 2000/ Defense 900) in attack position with tribute. And now since I control a Blackwing monster, I can special summon Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind (Attack 1300/ Defense 400) in attack mode. I then activate Gale's effect to halve the attack and defense of Thor (Thor, Lord of the Aesir: Attack 1750/ Defense 1400) until the end phase. And now since the total levels of the Blackwing monster I control are at least eight, I can special summon Blackwing- Calima the Haze (Attack 600/ Defense 1800) from his hand in attack position with its effect. Now I tune Blackwing- Calima the Haze with Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind in order to synchro summon. Rise, Blackwing Armor Master (Attack 2500/ Defense 1500)! Blackwing Armor Master, attack Thor!" The attack destroyed Broder's monster and his life points fell to 3250. Sirocca, attack Broder directly!" The man's fell to 1250.

"I activate my face down, The Golden Apples! This increases my life points by the battle I took this turn and summon a Malus Token which attack and defense equals that amount (Attack 2750/ Defense 2750)," Broder defended.

"I set two cards face down and my end turn," Crow finished. And due to it being the end phase, Thor's effect, it was revived and inflicted 800 to Crow. The bird named man life points fell to 3200 and he cried out in pain.

Broder drew his card and Solemn Authority was destroyed due to its last effect. "I activate the effect of Thor. This negates the effects of Blackwing Armor Master and granting those effects to Thor until the end phase. Malus Token, attack Blackwing- Sirocco the Dawn!" Broder ordered and the attack destroyed Crow's monster while dropping his life points to 2450. "Thor, attack Blackwing Armor Master!" Crow's last monster was destroyed and his life points fell to 1450.

"Since two Blackwing monsters were destroyed the same turn, I can special summon Blackwing- Brisote the Tailwind (Attack 1200/ Defense 1800) in attack position," the bird named man played. "I activate my face down, Black Return! This increases my life points by the attack of Thor, Lord of the Aesir and return it to your extra deck."

"I activate Nordic Relic Laevateinn! This destroys Thor due to it destroying a monster in a battle this turn," Broder fought. "And since your Black Return's target was removed, its effect of Black Return is negated." He smirked. "I set a face down and end my turn. And since it's the end phase, you know what that means, don't you?" Thor rose again and inflicted another 800 points of damage to Crow, dropping his life points to 650.

"I can't believe the attacks are real," Jack commented.

' _I'm well below the safety line,'_ Crow thought in worry. _'If Broder has a speed spell in his hand next turn, I lose.'_ As they complete the lap, he passes the kids and they cheer for him.

Broder stated, "I had kids that I, myself, protect. But yours can't count on Team 5D's to protect the children and defeat Yliaster." That caught Crow's attentioned. "I used to be a treasure hunter, to be honest. But that changed when I met a bunch of kids who were lone survivors of a war. I wouldn't leave the island as there were no other adults to really take care of the kids. Eventually, parents came to adopt them, but I'd heard rumors of the organization that triggered the war. That's not something I can just brush off."

' _This far-reaching organization is Yliaster!'_ Crow realized. _'That's the mission Broder is determined to follow no matter what: defeating Yliaster. But I can't give up here. Not after what Yliaster is planning to do to the world.'_ He drew his card. "I summon Blackwing- Blizzard the Far North (Attack 1300/ Defense 0) in defense mode and activate its effect. This revives Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind (Attack 1300/ Defense 400) in defense mode. Then I activate my face down Blackboost to draw two cards since I control at least two Blackwing monsters. After that, I activate the Speed Spell- Speed Force! This prevents you from destroying my cards through spells and traps until my next standby phase. Next I activate the effect of Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind to halve Thor's attack and defense (Thor, Lord of the Aesir: Attack 1750/ Defense 1400). Now I tune Blackwing- Brisote the Tailwind with Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind to synchro summon. Rise up, Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)! And now since Brisote was sent to the graveyard as a synchro material, its effect activates, increasing my life points by 600." Crow's life points jumped to 1250. "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Thor!" The attack succeeded and Broder's life points fell to 2950. "I set a face down and end my turn."

"Well, that means Thor's back and inflicts another 800 points of damage at you," Broder responded.

"Not quite, Broder," Crow retorted shocking him. "See, my dragon's got an effect. By placing a Blackwing Counter on it and decrease its attack and defense points (Black-Winged Dragon: Attack 2100/ Defense 1600), I can avoid damage."

Though he was frustrated, Broder stayed calm and continued the duel, "I summon Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar (Attack 1400/ Defense 1200) in attack position and activate its effect to special summon Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar (Attack 1400/ Defense 1600) in attack position. Now I tune Malus Token with Ljosalf with Svartalf to synchro summon. Rise, Loki, Lord of the Aesir (Attack 3300/ Defense 3000)!"

' _That's not good,'_ Yusei thought a bit worried.

"Loki, attack Black-Winged Dragon!" Broder ordered.

"I activate Black Sonic! This removes from play all of your attack position monsters," Crow defended.

"I activate Loki's effect! It negates the effect of Black Sonic and destroys it," Broder fought. Loki continued the attack against Black-Winged Dragon and destroyed it while dropping Crow's life point to a mere 50. "Thor, attack Blizzard the Far North!" The attack succeeded and destroyed Crow's monster.

"How is Crow going to survive at this rate?" Leo asked worriedly. They all looked at Yusei for his ideas being the best duelist they had.

"He'll find a way," he told them. "I've known him since he was a younger than memory. Even if it seems futile, he'll find a way to keep things as easy as possible for this team. But Crow will do all he can to ensure that this team wins. And that's all we have to rely on. And all we can do is hope that he comes out on top." They nodded and turned back to the duel.

Crow drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2. By removing seven speed counters, I can draw one card. I then set two face downs and end my turn," he played.

Broder drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2 as well! By removing ten speed counters, I can destroy one of your set cards!" he declared and the card destroyed was Black Wing. "Loki, attack Crow directly!"

"I activate my other face down Black Wing! This negates the attack by removing from play one Blackwing from my graveyard," Crow defended.

"I activate the effect of Loki! This negates the effect of Black Wing and destroys it," Broder fought.

"I remove Blackwing- Calima the Haze from my graveyard to revive Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)!" Crow declared and his dragon returned to his side.

"Well, Loki, attack that dragon!" Broder ordered.

"I activate the second effect of Black Wing! By removing the two Black Wings in my graveyard, I can destroy both Black-Winged Dragon and Loki and inflict the attack of Loki as damage to you," Crow fought.

Broder's life points fell to 0 but Broder then called, "I activate my face down Dromi the Sacred Shackles! This inflicts damage at you equal to the difference between Black-Winged Dragon and Loki." The assault hit and the duel ended in a draw. But due to it being Broder's end phase, Loki returned to the field.

Broder and Crow passed the batons to Halldor and Yusei and both duelists sped forward to duel against each other.


	6. Calling of the Gods

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 5: Calling of the Gods

Yusei drew his card. "I summon Cosmic Compass (Attack 100/ Defense 300) in defense mode," he declared. "Now since I normal summoned it, I can activate its effect allowing me to summon a Compass Token for each of your monsters that you control. And since you control two, I can summon two Compass Tokens in defense mode (Attack 0/ Defense 0 for each token). Finally I set two face downs." Halldor drew his card and the Signer was quick to activate one of his face downs, "I activate Monster Chain! This places a counter of Monster Chain for each monster I control which it three so Monster Chain gains 3 counters. While Monster Chain is face up, neither player can declare an attack but during your end phase, Halldor, I must remove a Chain Counter and when it has no Chain Counters, Monster Chain is destroyed." This put the gods in a chain not allowing it to attack.

"I summon Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant (Attack 400/ Defense 800) in attack position," he began. "Next I activate its effect! By sending Interdimensional Matter Transporter and Baton of the Hero from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon two Einherjar Tokens (Attack 1000/ Defense 1000 for both) in defense mode. Now I tune my two tokens with Valkyrie in order to synchro summon. I call forth, Odin, Father of the Aesir (Attack 4000/ Defense 3500)!" he declared and his monster rose up. "I activate Odin's effect making all divine- beast type monsters unaffected by spells and traps for one turn meaning it is not affected by Monster Chain for now. Now, Loki, Thor, attack his Compass Tokens!" The two monster tokens were destroyed with ease. "And finally Odin, attack his Cosmic Compass!" Yusei's final monster shattered to pieces, leaving him defenseless of monsters. "Finally I set a face down and end my turn. Now do you see, Yusei? You won't be able to defeat me. Now, perhaps it is time I tell you how I ended up gaining the right to wield Odin." Yusei didn't respond, allowing Halldor to explain his travels around the world and strengthening himself to gain the right to wield Odin. "Which is why you will not win. You see, you're the very last obstacle in my way to saving the world. But you won't be standing in my way for long, the gods will see to that. Which is why I offer you a chance to leave this with at least some of your dignity intact. I offer you the chance to surrender. Otherwise, you will feel the full force of my three chilling powerhouses!"

"Is that so? You know, I think it's time I told you a little tale of my own, Halldor. You see, you're not the only one who's come all the way to the Grand Prix to fight for something," Yusei retorted.

"What do you mean, Yusei?" Halldor asked.

"You know what I mean," Yusei replied and Halldor obviously knew the Signer was thinking about how the Aesir accused him of being able to cause the same damage Hakase Fudo's research did. "My heart didn't want to believe what you said could be true, but then I remembered a dream about Dr. Fudo. In it, he warned me of a great danger." The sounded of an echo reached both their ears and they looked up. "I know what that is now. It's the Divine Temple and Hakase Fudo's shadow."

"His shadow?" Halldor repeated.

"You see, I was born on the same day that my home nearly perished," Yusei informed. "Was it coincidence? Or was it something much more? Something to do with the Nedakh family? Even though the Great Flood was not my father's fault and Hakase Fudo did not cause Zero Reverse, they were each a part of those events. So maybe there something about my bloodline that brings doom and despair and if that turns out to be the case, then I'll do what I must to stop it. Just as I'll stop Team New World. You see, I've realized something important: Nothing will ever change what happened here in New Domino City. The only thing I can control is what happens next! So that's just what I plan to do."

"I see," Halldor responded.

"So to answer your question: no, Halldor, there's no way I'll ever surrender!" Yusei answered. His mark glowed followed by the others.

. . .

In the booth, all the Signer's marks vanished. "He's coming," Akiza stated.

. . .

All the marks combined onto Yusei giving him the Mark of the Crimson Dragon.

"What in the world?" Halldor responded to his mark. "That's the Mark of the Crimson Dragon!"

"Yes, because he's the only one strong enough to take on your Nordic Gods. Now then, it's my turn!" Yusei responded and drew his card. "I play the Speed Spell- Angel Baton! Since I have at least two speed counters, I can draw two additional cards from my deck by sending one card in my hand to the graveyard. Next I summon forth, Debris Dragon (Attack 1000/ Defense 2000)!"

"It's a tuner monster. He's planning a synchro," Halldor realized.

"And when Debris Dragon is summoned, I get summon a monster with five hundred or less attack points straight from my graveyard. And the monster I choose is Cosmic Compass," Yusei responded. "And now since a tuner monster is on my field, I can summon from my graveyard, Quillbolt Hedgehog (Attack 800/ Defense 800)! Next up, since a monster was summoned from my graveyard, I can summon this monster from my hand: Dopplewarrior (Attack 800/ Defense 800)! But I'm not through yet. Dopplewarrior, tune with Quillbolt Hedgehog and Debris Dragon! Now out of three will come on, and out of one will come great cosmic might. I synchro summon, the synchro monster Stardust Dragon!"

"Your ultimate beast, but it doesn't matter. Stardust Dragon is still no match for my Nordic Gods," Halldor stated.

"I activate Dopplewarrior's ability. When it's used in a synchro summon, I'm allowed to bring out one Dopple Token to my field. Then from my hand I activate the Speed Spell- Overtune!" Yusei continued. "Due to Overtune, since I have five speed counters, I am now allowed to release one monster on my field. And in exchange, I can summon one tuner monster from my hand that has the same level."

"Wait, just what's going on here?" Halldor asked.

"I release level one Dopple Token, and summon Majestic Dragon (Attack 0/ Defense 0)!" Yusei continued. "Now Cosmic Compass and Majestic Dragon, tune with Stardust Dragon! You were wrong when you called Stardust Dragon my ultimate beast Halldor; this is my ultimate beast. I now synchro summon, the Majestic Star Dragon (Attack 3800/ Defense 3000)!"


	7. A Horn of Warning

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 6: A Horn of Warning

"They're something about that beast," Halldor commented on the field. He stared at it and the Crimson Dragon could be seen through his rune eye. "This monster in the incarnation of the Crimson Dragon!" He smirked a bit. "No matter. He cannot attack."

"Now since Cosmic Compass was used to synchro summon, I get to make an additional draw," Yusei declared. "Next I throw down a face down. Then, end my turn. And now that I have, I activate a face down. The trap Star Force. By paying 1000 life points, I can negate the effect of one monster until the next turn. And I negate the effects of Majestic Star Dragon to prevent it from returning it my extra deck."

"It's my turn." Halldor drew his card. "Dear Yusei, I applaud your effort to keep fighting; but as you can see, Odin out matches your dragon by 200 points and even if he didn't, you'd better believe I've taken extra precautions to secure my victory regardless. Precautions such as this one, I activate a trap card: Odin's Eye! And I'm afraid, Yusei, that your Majestic Star Dragon's ability cannot negate the activation of this card."

"It's not?" he questioned.

"That's right, Yusei. When a god is on the field, nothing can negate the effect of Odin's Eye and that being the case, this trap activates," Halldor declared. "Now by negating the abilities of a god card, I'm allowed to look at your hand or a face down on your field. And I think I'll choose to look at your face down, Yusei." Odin's metal eye opened and Halldor grinned and stated, "I see. How interesting, you're face down card is Wave Rebound. That means on this very turn, if a synchro was summoned from the graveyard, you could negate that summoning and then you could deal damage equal to what that synchro's attack points were. A very cunning scheme you have planned and I do believe if you had managed to execute your scheme at this present moment, you would have won the duel. However, I think you know quite well I won't be letting that happen. Not a chance, not since I've seen it coming. Ah, Yusei, this is how it should be. Perhaps it is not as exciting for the crowd, but I assure you, it is exciting for me. After all, the very best part of a chess match, such as this, is the moment the players just sit and strategize. And given the present state of this duel of ours, well, that's what we must do now. I place one card face down and end my turn."

. . .

"If only Yusei had been able to get off his trap," Crow stated.

"But he didn't get it off though and that's that," Jack retorted. "It's like Yusei said, you can't change the past but you can control what happens next. Course by that logic, Halldor can too."

"The good news is by Yusei's Stay Force trap, Majestic Star Dragon can stay for now three more turns," Bruno stated.

"But you have to remember Bruno, Monster Chain's effect will end on Yusei's next turn," Akiza reminded. "After that, we should expect to see some real fireworks."

. . .

"It's my turn," Yusei stated drawing his card. "First I use the effect of Speed World 2. Now by removing seven of my speed counters, I can draw an extra card. Next, to extend the effect of Stay Force, I will pay 1000 life points. Now, Majestic Star Dragon no longer has to leave the field. With that, I end my turn."

"It's my draw," Halldor declared drawing his card. "Now then, time to end this once and for all. That's right, Yusei, I know the prevailing wisdom has us all waiting for Monster Chain to expire but it's like I said, the best part of the duel is when the players take time to strategize. Well, I have strategized, Yusei, and now I'm ready to implement that strategy. So here it comes. Odin, I activate your special ability! Now the effect used by Monster Chain to stop Odin is negated."

"Then I play my Majestic Star Dragon's ability! As you well know Halldor, when you use Odin's ability, I can release Majestic Star Dragon and negate that ability," he retorted. "Then all the cards on your field are destroyed." All of Halldor's cards were destroyed as she stated.

"I'll now place a card face down and end my turn," Halldor declared. "Which means we're at the end phase and my Nordic Gods returns. So rise, Odin, Loki, and Thor!"

"You asked for it Halldor, I activate my trap, Wave Rebound!" Yusei declared.

"Tell me, Yusei, are you happy with your plan?" Halldor asked. "Because I am happy with it. In fact, I couldn't be happier, and do you know why?"

He turned. "I think you're about to show me," he replied.

"I activate a trap from my graveyard," Halldor declared.

"A trap from your graveyard?" Yusei repeated shocked and confused.

"That's correct. Gjallarhorn! This trap unleashes its effect only when six feet under, and it's quite the effect," Halldor stated. The card activated and a person came from within it blowing a horn. "Do you hear that, Yusei? That's the sound of your complete and utter destruction! That's the sound of victory and it's getting louder. Yusei, prepare to feel the full wrath of the Nordic gods!" He calmed himself down. "Sorry, Yusei, but due to Gjallarhorn, your Wave Rebound won't be making any waves at all. You see, Gjallarhorn puts a stop to any effect that negates the revival of my Nordic gods. But there's more, at the end of my third turn, all the monsters I have on my field are removed from play and you get hit with a total of their attack points."

"No way," he muttered.

. . .

"That means at the end phase of every turn, the three Nordic gods will return to the battlefield. Guess, Gjallarhorn really does sound the alarm for Yusei," Bruno stated.

"Especially if you add up the attack points of those three gods," Jack added. "Yusei could be taking over ten thousand points of direct damage."

Crow gave a worried whimper. "This is just awful! Yusei just went from the guy to beat to the guy _getting_ beat!" he exclaimed.

"No joke," Akiza agreed. "Just look…"

. . .

"Now, then since Thor has returned, you take 800 points of damage," Halldor stated and Yusei's life points fell to 1200. "And since Loki has returned, I can add one trap card from my graveyard to my hand. And as you can see, the card I've selected is the trap Odin's Eye! You know what that means!" Yusei tensed as he watched the card. "Next, thanks to Odin's special ability, I get to draw one card from my deck." He looked at it. "Ah, very nice." He placed it in his hand. "Now, I'll end my turn and since I have, Gjallorhorn's counter becomes one." The counter was placed. "A counter that is the count _down_ to your demise, Yusei. Especially since at this very moment, the effect of your monster chain trap is snapped! Your move, Yusei, perhaps your last."


	8. Unlimited Speed

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 7: Unlimited Speed

' _As long as Halldor has Odin's Eye out, he'll be able to see my cards and right through my strategy. But wait…'_ he thought.

 **~Flashback~**

"Yusei, when a god is on the field, nothing can negate the gaze of Odin's Eye and since that's the case, it activates," Halldor declared. "Now once per turn, by negating the special abilities of my gods, I am able to look at a card in your hand or on your field."

 **~Flashback Ended~**

' _Maybe I can use that to my advantage!'_ he thought. _'After all, what you see isn't always what you get.'_

"My turn!" Yusei declared drawing his card. "And first I'm summoning Stardust Phantom (Attack 0/ Defense 0)! When Phantom is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can summon Stardust Dragon from my grave in defense mode. Furthermore, if I remove Stardust Phantom from play, I can then lower Stardust Dragon's defense points by 800 and make it invincible any attacks you dare throw its way. I then end my turn with a face down."

"I see what you're planning. I'll even break it down for you step by step," Halldor stated. "Since Phantom's ability activates form the graveyard, Thor won't be able to negate it. Then, if my three Nordic gods attack, you would simply be able to revive Stardust Dragon from your graveyard and be able to survive the onslaught due to his hardy defense. In fact, thanks to Stardust Phantom's ability, you can survive my gods' attacks three times and still keep Stardust Dragon."

"That's right," he responded.

"However, you forgot one thing, it's my turn, and my speed counter is up to ten!" Halldor reminded and drew his card. "And that means I can activate Speed World 2's effect now. So by removing ten speed counters, I can destroy one card on the field. The card that I choose to destroy is that Phantom!"

"And since you have, Phantom's ability now activates, so what happens next is just as you called it. I can summon Stardust Dragon from graveyard," Yusei declared and, as said, Stardust Dragon took to the field.

"Now Thor, attack!" Halldor ordered.

Thor made his way and Yusei immediately reacted, "I play Phantom's second ability, just as you predicted. By removing phantom from play and lowering Stardust's defense by 800, he can't be destroyed in battle (Stardust Dragon: Defense 1200)!"

"Now your turn, Loki. Go, Vanity Blast!" Halldor ordered. The attack was sent.

"Once again, I activate Phantom's ability (Stardust Dragon: Defense 400)," he defended.

"And that's the last time you will, Yusei," Halldor stated. "Don't you see? Stardust Dragon doesn't have enough attack points to save himself and stick around. You were one move short due to my speed counters." Yusei tensed slightly. "And now, blast that Stardust Dragon off the field, Odin! Go Sacred Scepter Slash!"

As the attack neared, Yusei called, "I play Stronghold Guardian! Since my monster in defense mode has been attacked, by banishing Stronghold, Stardust Dragon gains 1500 defense points until this turn's end phase (Stardust Dragon: Defense 1900). Now Phantom, activate your ability!" The attack was avoided and he told his dragon, "Thanks for taking some shots for the team, Stardust."

"Well, I have to admit to you, Yusei, I am ever so impressed with how resourceful you have become. You have been down so many times but never quite out. But that will all change. I summon Jormungardr the Nordic Serpent (Attack 3000/ Defense 3000) to your field!" Halldor declared.

"My field?" he questioned. The long serpent wound around Yusei like a circular wall made of a somewhat living being. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on here, Yusei. When a god is on my field, I can summon Jormungardr from my hand to your field in defense mode. Then if Jormungardr switches to attack mode, you take 3000 points of damage," Halldor explained. "Next I activate my face down. Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir! Due to Gleipnir, when a god is on my field, I can add Fenrir the Nordic Wolf from my deck to my hand. And then, again, thanks to the gods, I can summon Fenrir from my hand to your field in defense mode and I'm not just crying wolf! Rise, my pet! Now when your turn's battle phase begins, Fenrir switches all monsters on your side of the field in defense to attack mode. Also, from this point on both players take damage from any battle involving Fenrir."

"Say what?!" Yusei exclaimed.

. . .

Back at the pit, Bruno stated, "That is one tough card combo."

"Wait, how's this a combo?" Leo asked.

"Because, Leo, during the battle phase of Yusei's next turn, Fenrir forces monsters from defense to offense which means that… which means that Jormungardr switches to offense and Yusei takes 3000 points of damage!" Jack exclaimed.

"What?" Leo asked shocked.

"Oh no," Luna muttered.

. . .

"Next I place one card face down and end my turn," Halldor declared. "And since I have, Gjallarhorn's counter becomes two."

' _The card Halldor just placed face down has to be Odin's Eye,'_ Yusei thought. Halldor gave a small smirk. _'I'll have to play this carefully.'_ He drew his card. "I play the trap, Hope for Escape! Now since I have less life points that you Halldor, by getting rid of 1000 of them, I'm now allowed to draw one card for every 1000 point difference in our life points." Yusei's life points dropped to 200. "And since the difference between us is more than 3000, I'm allowed to draw 3 cards from my deck. I summon Life Gardna (Attack 0/ Defense 800)! And with that done, I'm now going to summon a monster simply by removing one I already have from play. So now Jormungardr make way for Different Dimension Sprite (Attack 0/ Defense 100)!"

"But wait…" Halldor responded realizing his combo was gone.

"Different Dimension Sprite, now rise and tune with Life Gardna! Behold as both power and speed surge towards each other to create the synchro, the tuner, the mighty Formula Synchron (Attack 200/ Defense 1500)!" he declared.

"A synchro tuner?" Halldor asked.

"Next I play Life Gardna's ability. Because Life Gardna was used to synchro summon, I now get 800 life points," Yusei declared and his life points sprinted to 1000. "Now I'll play Formula Synchron's ability. With it, I'm allowed to draw one extra card from my deck every turn." He put a hand on his deck and thought, _'The key to winning this now isn't just skill, it's speed.'_ He drew and looked at the card. "And I just got a whole bunch of it! Let's rev it up!" he exclaimed as the wind that angled off his duel runner glowed and he moved faster than the wind. "I tune my level two Formula Synchron with my level eight Stardust Dragon! Let the spirit of all duel monsters now spread its wings and soar to new heights, where it can be transformed by the wings of destiny, where it can become all powerful! Go Accel Synchro!" Yusei vanished from sight.

"What in the world?!" Halldor exclaimed in shock.

A pulse wave was sent from behind him and Yusei appeared while exclaiming, "Appear, Shooting Star Dragon (Attack 3300/ Defense 2500)!"

"Shooting Star Dragon?" Halldor repeated a bit worried. "That's Yusei's most ultimate monster."

"Now from my hand, I'm playing the Speed Spell- Star Force!" Yusei declared. "With this card, so long as I have four or more speed counters, I can remove one monster on my field from play. And then, I can give one monster on my field a super charged power up until this turn's end phase. So the monster I'm removing is Fenrir!" Fenrir was immediately destroyed and he continued, "And since Fenrir was level ten, I get to power up my Shooting Star Dragon by 1000 (Shooting Star Dragon: Attack 4300)!"

"4300 attack points? This could pose a problem," Halldor stated.

"A bigger problem than you realize, Halldor," Yusei retorted, "Because now Shooting Star Dragon's ability activates which means I get to check the top five cards on my deck for tuner monsters." He looked at them. "I have three, and I'm afraid for you that means I'm allowed to wage three separate attacks. Now then, let's get to it! Shooting Star Dragon attack!" His monster split into three clones of itself and each attacked and destroyed the three godly monsters and dropped Halldor's life points to 1900.

"You will pay for that, Yusei," Halldor growled. "Like a bug on my duel runner windshield, you just keep hanging on; refusing to accept that sooner or later, you're going to hit the pavement."

"The only thing hitting the pavement are these two face downs," he responded calmly as he set them in place.

"Which means it is the end phase of this turn and because it is, guess who's back," Halldor retorted. Each Nordic god returned to the field. "That's right, Thor has returned, which means you take 800 points of damage." Yusei's life points fell to 200 again.

"And now Loki is back, meaning I can add one trap card from my graveyard to my hand. And as you can see, the trap card I've selected is God Shackles Gleipnir. And finally Odin returns to the field allowing me draw one card from my deck. But that's not the end of it. Don't forget, now that we're at the turn's end phase your dragon's attack points return to normal (Shooting Star Dragon: Attack 3300). And now it's my turn!" He drew his card.

"Bring it on, Halldor!" Yusei challenged.

"Aren't you peppy for someone who is about to lose?" the Aesir responded.

"If I lose, at least I'll know I did everything I could to win," the Jedi replied.

"Oh, please. That's the way failures speak. But I suppose that fits because you have failed," Halldor argued. "And now I'm going to make it official. Then, at long last, all of the world will recognize something as an enclad fact. And that is, the Nordic gods can defeat all who oppose them, even your fledgeling synchros. Observe, I summon Tyr of the Nordic Champions (Attack 2000/ Defense 2000)! Next I activate the trap card, Odin's Eye!" He smirked. "Remember, Yusei, you can't negate the activation of Odin's Eye when a god is on the field. Of course, I have to negate my gods' abilities in order to use Odin's Eye, but that's a small price to pay. Next up, I play Tyr's ability! Now by releasing Tyr, any attacks you were thinking of throwing my way won't do my gods any harm. In other words, the penalty that comes to use Odin's Eye is now gone. Now, then, by the divine power of Odin's Eye, let's see that face down!"

As it was about to be revealed, Yusei called stopping it, "Just what I was hoping for! I activate my trap, Trick Mirror! Due to this card, when your trap activates, I can activate its effect as though it was my own. And the trap effect that I'll be taking is that of Odin's Eye!"

"Oh no!" Halldor exclaimed shocked.

"And this means your gods' abilities are negated once more," Yusei added.

"Fine, what's it matter?" Halldor retorted. "Even without his ability, Odin has 4000 attack points which is more than enough to take down your Shooting Star Dragon. But don't take my word for it. See for yourself! Odin, attack!"

"I play Shooting Star Dragon's ability!" Yusei defended. "Now by removing Shooting Star Dragon from play during your turn, the attack of one of your monsters is negated." His dragon vanished.

"So what? Your field is now empty, Yusei. I'll just have one of my other two gods attack you now," Halldor responded confidently.

The Signer smirked. "I play the trap, Zero Force! Now, Halldor, due to this force, because my monster left the field, your three Nordic Gods are about to lose all the power and might they each possess," he fought.

"That can't be!" Halldor exclaimed but Thor, Loki, and Odin's attack points dropped to zero. "But if they're points are zero, they can no longer attack!"

"And don't forget, at the end phase of this turn, the effect of your Gjallarhorn trap activates. And that means all monsters on your field will be removed from play and that I get damaged with the combined attack points of those monsters. However, since the attack points of your three gods now total just zero, I won't be taking any damage at all," Yusei added.

"No way…" Halldor muttered shocked.

"And now that we've reached this turn's end phase, Shooting Star Dragon rises again (Attack 3300/ Defense 3000)," the Signer continued. "And with his rise comes your fall! Now go, Shooting Star! Attack!" The attack succeeded and Halldor's life points fell to zero.

Yusei and Halldor looked at each other and nodded in respect before the Signer drove off to meet with his friends. When he was back, Yusei nodded at his while the others congratulated him.

"We're not finished, yet though," Yusei stated. "There's still Team New World, or better known as Yliaster, to deal with if we want to save the world."

"We'll win this," Crow stated. "I'm positive."

They all nodded. "This won't be an easy duel. After all, it is more than likely we'll end up facing real damage again," Yusei added. "And with the Meklord Emperors having those abilities of theirs… We need to be ready for anything." They nodded again in acceptance.


	9. One Card of Danger

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 8: One Card of Danger

Jack took off like a bullet against Lester who was on his duel board. The audience laughed at the duel board he was riding, but Jack wasn't and neither was his team. This duel would be no laughing matter.

Jack ended up gaining the first turn. "I summon Dark Resonator (Attack 1300/ Defense 300) in defense mode. I then set three cards face down and end my turn," he declared.

Lester drew his card. "I summon Sky Core (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in defense position and also set three face downs. That ends my turn," he near copied.

Jack drew his card to begin his next turn. "I activate my face down Dimension Switch! This removes Dark Resonator from play. And since you have monsters on your field and I don't, I can special summon Gear Changer (Attack 1500/ Defense 700) in attack mode. And then I can activate its effect to increase its level by the level of your Sky Core (Gear Changer: Level 5). Now I send Dimension Switch to the graveyard to return Dark Resonator to the field in defense position. With him back, I tune Gear Changer with Dark Resonator to synchro summon. Show your might, Red Dragon Archfiend (Attack 3000/ Defense 2000)!" he called. "Now I normal summon Trust Guardian (Attack 0/ Defense 800). Next I can special summon Red Nova (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in attack mode since I control Red Dragon Archfiend. And then I will double tune Red Dragon Archfiend with Trust Guardian and Red Nova. Rise, Red Nova Dragon (Attack 3500/ Defense 3000)! And due to its effect, Red Nova Dragon gains 500 attack for each tuner monster in my graveyard. And there are three currently, meaning he gains 1500 attack points (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 5000). Red Nova Dragon, attack Sky Core!"

"I activate Twin Vortex! This destroys Sky Core and your dragon," Lester played.

"Well due to Red Nova Dragon's effect, it can't be destroyed by your card effects," Jack retorted meaning only Sky Core was destroyed.

"Well, since Sky Core was destroyed by card effect, it's effect activates which allows me to summon Meklord Emperor Skiel (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in attack mode, Skiel Top (Attack 600/ Defense 0) in attack mode, Skiel Attack (Attack 1000/ Defense 0) in attack mode, Skiel Guard (Attack 200/ Defense 300) in defense mode, and Skiel Carrier (Attack 400/ Defense 0) in attack mode. And due to the effect of Meklord Emperor Skiel, they will combine to create an even stronger monster (Attack 2200/ Defense 0)," Lester declared.

"Red Nova Dragon, attack Meklord Emperor Skiel!" Jack ordered.

"I activate the effect of Skiel Guard to negate the attack," Lester defended.

"I activate Power Pressure! Since a monster's attack was negated, I can deal you 1000 points of damage," the Signer fought.

"I activate Infinite Aura! This gains one Aura Counter for every 100 points of damage I take. And since I took 1000, it gains 10 counters (Aura Counters: 10)," the smallest Emperor played as his life points fell to 3000.

"I end my turn," Jack finished.

Lester drew. "I activate Meklord Emperor Skiel's effect to equip itself with Red Nova Dragon," he declared.

"I activate Red Nova Dragon's effect! It removes it from place and allows me to negate one attack this turn," Jack played.

"I set a card and end my turn," Lester finished.

"And since you've ended your turn, Red Nova Dragon returns!" Jack responded as his dragon rose up at a full 5000 attack. He drew his card. "I summon Force Resonator (Attack 500/ Defense 500) in attack mode. Now I activate the effect of Force Resonator. By sending it to the graveyard, I can prevent you from activating card effects that target Red Nova Dragon when it attacks this turn. Added, Red Nova Dragon gains an additional 500 points (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 5500)! Red Nova Dragon, attack Meklord Emperor Skiel!"

"I activate Infinite Prison! This takes Sky Core from my graveyard and sets it as a spell card by discarding Skiel Carrier 5," Lester fought.

Red Nova Dragon destroyed Meklord Emperor Skiel and the shrimp's life points fell to 0 while his Infinite Aura gained 30 more Counters making it a total of 40. And since Meklord Skiel Infinity had been removed from the field, all the other "Skiel" monsters were destroyed as well.

. . .

As Yusei watched Jack make the finishing blow, he couldn't help but worry. When he should've felt happy like the others that Jack had won, something didn't sit right with his win as Primo darted off to face Jack.

' _Jack defeated Lester way too easily,'_ Yusei thought, uncertain of what was going on.

. . .

Primo drew his card to begin his turn. "I summon Wise Core (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in defense position," he declared. "Next I activate the Speed Spell- Lightning Rod! This destroys Wise Core. And since Wise Core was destroyed, I can special summon Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in attack position, Wisel Top (Attack 500/ Defense 0) in attack position, Wisel Attack (Attack 1200/ Defense 0) in attack position, Wisel Guard (Attack 0/ Defense 1200) in defense position, and Wisel Carrier (Attack 800/ Defense 600) in attack position. And now due to Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity's effect, they will all combine to create Meklord Emperor Wisel (Attack 2500/ Defense 0)! Now I activate the effect of Meklord Emperor Wisel to equip it with your Red Nova Dragon."

"I activate Red Nova's effect! It removes my dragon from play until the end phase and allows me to negate one attack this turn," Jack defended.

"I activate my face down, Infinity Barrage! This inflicts 400 points of damage to you for every monster you control," Primo played and Jack's life points fell to 2000. "I set two cards and end my turn."

"And since it is the end phase, Red Nova Dragon rises again, (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 5500/ Defense 3000)!" Jack called as his dragon returned. He drew his card. "Red Nova Dragon, attack Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity!" Jack ordered.

"I activate Wisel Guard's effect to redirect the attack to it instead," Primo defended.

"I activate my face down, Burning Strike, and equip it to Red Nova Dragon. This card grants it the ability to inflict piercing damage," Jack fought.

"I activate Wise G3! By sending Wisel Guard to the graveyard, I can special summon Wisel Guard 3 (Attack 0/ Defense 2000) in defense position," Primo continued.

"Red Nova Dragon, attack Wisel Guard 3!" Jack ordered. Primo's monster wasn't destroyed due to its effect, but Red Nova still inflicted damage lowering Primo to 500 life points. Infinite Aura also activated giving its Aura Counters a total of 75.

"I activate Echo Mirror to draw a card and reveal it. If it's a monster, you will take damage equal to the monster's level times 300," Primo declared and drew his card. It ended up being level three Wisel Attack 3 and dropped Jack's life points down to 1100.

"I set a face down and end my turn," Jack declared.

" _Primo,"_ Jakob called over a secure line to Primo. _"What do you think you are doing? We need to stick to the plan."_

" _I will defeat Yusei before you need to bother,"_ Primo argued back.

" _5Ds is still confused as to what we're planning. We need to stick to the plan to ensure a win. If you go off on your own, we may end up losing. Stick with the plan, Primo,"_ Jakob ordered.

Primo growled in irritation submission. _"Right,"_ he agreed. _"Very well, I will stick with the plan."_ He turned back to the duel at hand. He drew his card to begin his turn. "I set two face downs and end my turn."

. . .

Leo then said in confusion, "Why didn't Primo counter or something? He must've had something to stop the attack."

"I don't know. It doesn't sit right," Yusei responded. "If I had to guess, it's most likely something to do with that Infinite Aura card. Both Lester and Primo seem to be losing life points on purpose to get counters on that thing. And I don't want to know what'll happen if they get enough counters on that thing."

"Then we need to destroy it before they can use its full effect," Crow stated.

"Right," Yusei agreed. "Leo, put out a warning card for Jack. Let him know that card needs to go."

"Right," Leo agreed and put it out.

. . .

As Jack drove, he got the message saying to destroy Infinite Aura. He then called, "I activate my face down, Synchro Sonic! Since I control at least one synchro monster, I can destroy Infinite Aura."

"I activate Infinite Guard Formation! By negating the effects of all the effect monsters I control, I can negate the effect of Synchro Sonic (Meklord Emperor Wisel: Attack 0)," Primo defended.

"Red Nova Dragon, attack Meklord Emperor Wisel!" Jack ordered. Primo's monsters and life points fell while Infinite Aura's Aura Counters increases to 80.

"I activate Infinite Prison! This takes Wise Core from my graveyard and sets it as a spell card by discarding Wisel Attack 3," Primo finished.

. . .

Yusei didn't like this. Whatever Jakob had planned, it wasn't going to be good. Especially since it seemed that their Infinite Aura card was going to be used soon. Too soon, and the Signer of the Head was more than worried of its effect.


	10. A Meklord Emperor's Might

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 9: A Meklord Emperor's Might

Jakob took to the field. "I summon Grand Core (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in defense mode and then activate Explosive Blast to destroy Grand Core and deal 400 points of damage to you," he declared and Jack's life points fell to 700. "And since Grand Core was destroyed by card effect and send to the graveyard, I can special summon Meklord Emperor Granel (Attack 0/ Defense 0) in attack position, Granel Top (Attack 500/ Defense 0) in attack position, Granel Attack (Attack 1300/ Defense 0) in attack position, Granel Guard (Attack 500/ Defense 1000) in defense position, and Granel Carrier (Attack 700/ Defense 700) in attack position. And due to its effect, my monsters will combine into one and its attack and defense points increase to become equal to my life points (Meklord Emperor Granel: Attack 4000/ Defense 4000). And then I activate Speed Spell- Takeover to destroy Infinite Aura. By destroying that card, I can life points equal to the total number of counters it had times 100." Jakob's life points increased to 12000, as did Meklord Emperor Granel's attack and defense. "I set a card face down. Now, Meklord Emperor Granel, attack Red Nova Dragon!"

"I activate Red Nova Dragon's effect to remove it from play and allow me to negate one attack," Jack defended.

"I activate Granel Top's effect, which negates your dragon's effect until the end phase," Jakob fought and the blast hit, destroying Jack's monster and Jack's life points. "And since Granel destroyed a synchro monster in battle, I activate Granel Attack's effect to take Red Nova Dragon from the graveyard and equip it to Meklord Emperor Granel. And now due to the effect of Meklord Emperor Granel, it gains attack equal to the attack of Red Nova Dragon (Meklord Emperor Granel: Attack 15500)."

Jack came in badly hurt from the final assault. Yusei called to Crow, "Be careful, Crow. Do not take this duel lightly at all."

"Right," Crow agreed and took off.

Jack winced a bit as Yusei helped him, but didn't show too much pain. Yusei was quick to have Akiza bring him to the clinic to get his injuries checked on.

They then turned to the duel. It was Crow's turn to duel and the odds were not good whatsoever. Team 5Ds were not ready to feel at all like they were going to win with Jakob's Meklord Emperor Granel hosting a total of 15,500 attack points.

' _And I had thought Paradox's Malefic Truth Dragon was powerful, but this is a whole different level. Especially since it can also take synchro monsters from the graveyard if they were destroyed by battle and Granel Top can negate a monster's effect,'_ Yusei thought. _'Crow, be careful.'_

Crow drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing ten speed counters, I can destroy your Meklord Emperor Granel," he declared.

"I activate my face down, Infinity Wall. This negates all card effects that would destroy any cards I control this turn," Jack defended.

"Well then, I summon Blackwing- Steam the Cloaked (Attack 800/ Defense 1200) in attack mode. And since I control a Blackwing monster, I can special summon Blackwing- Bora the Spear (Attack 1700/ Defense 800) from my hand in attack mode," Crow responded. "I then remove my turn monsters from play to special summon Blackwing- Aurora the Northern Lights (Attack 0/ Defense 0) from my hand with its effect. And due to its effect, its level becomes the combined levels of the two removed monsters (Blackwing- Aurora the Northern Lights: Level 7). And since Steam the Cloaked left the fields, its effect activates, special summon Steam Token (Attack 100/ Defense 100) in attack mode. Now with the second effect of Aurora, I can remove from play Blackwing Armor Master from my extra deck to make the attack and effects of Aurora the Northen Lights as Blackwing Armor Master until my next Standby Phase (Blackwing- Aurora the Northern Lights: Attack 2500).' Crow then thought, _'By attacking Meklord Emperor Granel with Aurora, I can place a Wedge Counter on Meklord Emperor Granel at the end of the the damage step. I could then remove the counter to reduce the attack of Meklord Emperor Granel to 0. That would activate the effect of my Steam Token, which will remove Meklord Emperor Granel from play and destroying all the parts of his monster.'_ He then ordered. Aurora, attack Meklord Emperor Granel!"

"I activate the effect of Granel Guard! This treats the Red Nova Dragon (Attack 3500/ Defense 3000) equipped to Granel as a face up attack position monster in the Spell and Trap Card Zone during the damage step only and changing the attack target to it," Jakob defended.

Due to the effects granted to Aurora from Blackwing Armor Master, it wasn't destroyed and Crow took no battle damage. At the end of the damage step, the Wedge counter was about to be placed on Red Nova Dragon, but the dragon became an equip card again and the counter was void.

"I set two face downs and end my turn," Crow finished and Steam Token destroyed itself due to its own effect.

Jakob drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing ten speed counters, I can destroy your Aurora the Northern Lights," he declared and Crow's monster shattered. "Meklord Emperor Granel, attack him directly!"

"I special summon Blackwing Ghibli the Searing Wind (Attack 0/ Defense 1600) from my hand in defense position," Crow defended.

"Well, then, Meklord Emperor Granel, destroy his Blackwing- Ghibli the Searing Wind!" Jakob fought.

"As a Winged-beast monster with 1000 or less attack points was destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, I can activate my face down, Black Wing Revenge! This allows me to special summon two Blackwing- Black Crest Tokens (Attack 0/ Defense 800) in defense position. And then I activate my other face down, Blackboost to draw two cards as I control at least two Blackwing Monsters," Crow responded.

"I activate the effect of Granel Attack! This treats Red Nova Dragon equipped to my Meklord Emperor as an attack position monster during the battle phase only and also allows Red Nova Dragon to inflict piercing damage, though it can't attack directly. So, Red Nova Dragon, attack one of those Black Crest Tokens!" Red Nova Dragon attacked and destroyed one of Crow's monsters and Crow's life points fell to 1300. "I set a face down and end my turn."

Crow drew his card. "I tribute my Black Crest Token to tribute summon. Rise up, Blackwing- Hillen the Tengu-wind (Attack 0/ Defense 2300) in defense mode," he declared. "I set two face downs and end my turn."

Jakob drew his card. "I activate Granel Attack's effect once again and target Red Nova Dragon for it. Red Nova Dragon, attack Hillen the Tengu-wind!" he ordered. The attacked destroyed Crow's monster and dropped Crow to 100 life points. "Meklord Emperor Granel, attack his directly!"

The attack hit and Crow's life points fell to zero, but Crow called, "I activate Blackwing- Hillen the Tengu-wind's effect to revive itself (Attack 0/ Defense 2300) and Blackwing- Ghibli the Searing Wind (Attack 0/ Defense 1600) in attack position. Then I activate my face down Urgent Tuning to tune Ghibli with Hillen to synchro summon a synchro monster in defense mode. Soar, Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)!"

Due to the rules of the World Racing Grand Prix, it immediately went to Jakob's end phase meaning Red Nova Dragon became an equip card again. Crow passed the baton to Yusei, but said before he could take off, "Yusei, be careful." Yusei nodded in reassurance before taking off while Crow escorted to the clinic immediately as his injuries were getting the better of him.

' _This ends in this duel,'_ Yusei thought determined.


	11. A Bleak Past and Future

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 10: A Bleak Past and Future

"With both teams down to their last duelists, the World Racing Grand Prix final is reaching its climax," the MC called.

' _Why did Crow leave Yusei a synchro monster? Since it's a synchro, it will just become food for my Meklord Emperor Granel and Yusei will be sent to hell,'_ Jakob thought.

"Crow's move is foolish," Lester mocked over the com.

"Ignore Lester, Jakob, and focus on Yusei. Yusei is the real threat," Primo told their leader.

"You're overestimating Yusei," Lester commented.

. . .

In the booth with Team 5Ds, Akiza wondered, "Why would Crow summon Black-Winged Dragon?"

"I'm not sure, after what happened to Red Nova Dragon," Bruno answered. "If Black-Winged Dragon is also absorbed by that thing, it will all be over."

. . .

Crow was placed in an infirmary with Jack and Trudge looking at Yusei through the television.

"I hope Yusei uses his card well," Trudge commented.

. . .

' _I know why Crow left Black-Winged Dragon to me. Throughout all the hardship we've experienced in this tournament, we didn't fight with our individual decks. We fought using three decks,'_ Yusei thought on the duel field. With her at 4000 life points and Jakob at 12,000, he drew his card to begin his turn. "I summon Wave Wall (Attack 0/ Defense 2000) in defense mode. I then set two cards face down and end my turn," he declared. He looked at Crow's dragon. _'You can count on me, Crow.'_

"Though you know the path of their destruction, you still think you can win with synchro monsters. You're pitiful and I will make you disappear," Jakob comments and drew his card. "Meklord Emperor Granel, attack Black-Winged Dragon!"

"I activate the effect of Wave Wall! Since I control a synchro monster, I can negate your attack," Yusei defended. "And let's not forget, since Granel is five monsters being treated as one, it can only attack once."

"Since my Meklord Emperor monster didn't destroy your monster that it attacked by battle, I can activate this: Attack Cannon! So by releasing Granel Attack, I can destroy your pathetic synchro," Jakob fought.

"I activate another card Crow left for me. Shadow Impulse! With this, I am able to summon a synchro from my extra deck with the same level and type as the synchro monster just destroyed, but its attack becomes zero and its effects are negated," Yusei retorted. "And I choose Stardust Dragon (Attack 0/ Defense 2000)."

"Don't get too conceited for surviving the attack. Your bonds are to be destroyed by Granel anyway; or if not by Granel, then by the parasite like machinery in your chest," Jakob told the Signer. Yusei gave him a warning stare. "Regardless of how much it struggles, an ant cannot defeat an elephant. An elephant will not recognize a small existence like an ant passing by. Team New World are the elephants trying to change history, while you, Team 5Ds, are just ants who can do nothing but pass by." Yusei's features turned into a full force glare. "I summon Granel Attack 3 (Attack 1800/ Defense 0). Now since I have four speed counters, I activate the Speed Spell- Silent Burn! This inflicts 300 points of damage to you for each monster that didn't attack. Feel the power of an elephant!" Yusei's life points fell to 2800 and he swerved a bit from the force of the assault, but regained control. "Had you crashed there, you would have spared yourself further pain that awaits you. I set one face down and end my turn."

"I'm not going to give up my fight against you trying to change history. I'll keep fighting no matter what," Yusei vowed.

"That is foolishness as far as I'm concerned. There is no hope for you. I will show you what the future is like," Jakob told him. The Infinity symbol on Jakob's mouth cover lit up and a larger infinity symbol appeared in the sky while the Signers' Marks of the Dragon all lit up as well.

. . .

"Why is Jakob showing them that?" Lester asked shocked.

"Jakob, stop now!" Primo ordered.

The symbol in the sky activated and Team 5Ds' minds are transported elsewhere.

. . . .

Team 5Ds found themselves on what appeared to be another world. "Where are we?" Leo wondered.

"I don't know," Akiza responded.

"I've seen this scene before…" Yusei muttered. They looked below them to see Duel Monsters sealed in stone slabs in a red wasteland.

"This looks like a graveyard," Jack commented.

Suddenly, Akiza spotted something. "Hey! Is that…?" she stopped as they saw the rings from the center of New Domino's bridge network.

' _This has to be a lie,'_ Yusei thought, trying to convince himself.

Primo, Jakob, and Lester then appeared before them. "You shall be shown the truth of the future," Jakob told them.

"Is this the future of New Domino?" Yusei asked.

"It all began with synchro summons," Jakob informed as the scenery changed to a few years previous. At the appearing time, the city was brighter and in working order. There were a number of floating structures above the city; a number of turbo duelists shown on a road all synchro summoning; in an arena for ground dueling, a hologram of a cowgirl held up Naturia Leodrake while other duelists all around her raised their synchro monsters too. "Both the world and dueling had evolved and people became more obsessed with dueling. Synchro summoned even became a synchro for this town." Duel Academy was show where a teacher was explaining synchro by pointing to a projection showing Plaguespreader Zombie and Marauding Captain being used to synchro summon Ally of Justice Catastor. "At this time, duel runners and synchro summons grew rapidly, both of which were linked to Ener-D. The Ener-D's rotation speed continually increased as the world evolved, but the evolution was too quick."

Lester laughed. "The evolution was indeed incredible," he stated and kept laughing.

"Shut up," Primo ordered the younger member.

Suddenly, an army of Meklord Emperors appeared and the people in the city all looked up in surprise. But the Meklord Emperors then started attacking and destroying the city. Leo pointed below to where Lester was visible, running with his mother and father.

"That is my memory of this age," Lester told them. Below Lester and his parents were struck by a blast from one of the emperors. Lester survived, but his parents were killed.

The scenery then changed slightly and Primo said, "This is my memory." In the memory, Primo was with a girl inside a destroyed building, both of them armed. After a Meklord Emperor Granel passed, they both shot at it, doing some damage. They looked at each other in triumph, but then the building is shot at the girl is killed. Primo cried out loud and the Meklord Emperor appeared in front of him and the man shot at the robot in anger while Team 5Ds watched in horror.

"The greed of humanity had finally reached its peak," Jakob explained. "At that time, the Ener-D suddenly became uncontrollable as it reacted to the greed. The Ener-D went berserk and caused explosions all across the world."

"No way! Ener-D wouldn't go out of control again," Yusei refused to believe.

"I am telling the truth. I will show you my memory of the world that had been destroyed by humanity's foolishness," Jakob stated as the scenery shifted in a destroyed world. The visionary Jakob was dressed in rags and walking through the destroyed city, devoid of any other people. The present day Jakob continued, "I was the chosen one, although I didn't know if it was through luck or misfortune. As the only survivor, I wandered around, but nobody could hear my voice."

' _This isn't the future. No one would allow it,'_ Yusei thought.

. . .

Team 5Ds all snapped out of the vision as they appeared back in present day. "Will synchro summoning really lead to that world?" Yusei wondered quietly. "No, it won't. I won't believe it will."

"Are you trying to escape fate?" Jakob asked.

"You're lying about synchro summoning causing that future. I know you are," he accused.

"That kind of ignorance is what led to the destruction," Jakob commented.

"We can decide the fate of the future ourselves," Yusei told him sternly. He drew his card to continue the duel. "First I summon Mono Synchron (Attack 0/ Defense 0) and use its effect to change the level of Wave Wall to 1. Now I tune Wave Wall with Mono Synchron. Clustering hope will open the new speed's horizon. Become the path its light shines upon. Synchro summon! The power of hope, synchro tuner, Formula Synchron (Attack 200/ Defense 1500). Our bonds will open the path to a better future. I tune Stardust Dragon with Formula Synchron. Clustering dreams and hopes will open the door onto evolution. Become the path its light shines upon. Accel synchro!" He disappeared for a moment before appeared again after a pulse wave. "Be born, Shooting Star Dragon (Attack 3300/ Defense 2500)! Next I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect. With it I can check the top five cards on my deck for tuner monster and then shuffle it. And for every tuner monster I draw, I can attack one time." The full Mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared on his back and he drew the cards. He revealed them and saw he drew all five. "I drew five, Jakob. And that means I can attack five times." Shooting Star Dragon attack Granel Attack 3 to start.

"I use the effect of Granel Guard to redirect the attack to Red Nova Dragon. And since Red Nova Dragon has 3300 attack points, it will destroy your monster," Jakob played.

"Not quite, I activate Synchro Striker Unit! This raises its attack to 4300," Yusei fought.

"Due to Granel Carrier's effect, I can prevent Red Dragon Archfiend from being destroyed once per turn," Jakob defended but he still took damage and his life points were lowered to 11,200 and the attack of Meklord Emperor Granel became 14,700.

The second Shooting Star Dragon attacked Red Nova Dragon, destroying it. Both Jakob's life points and the attack of Granel fell to 10,400. The third attacked Granel Attack 3 and the fourth went at Granel Top dropping the opposing team's member to 4100. And the final Shooting Star Dragon attacked Meklord Emperor Granel Infinity destroying it along with Granel Guard and Granel Carrier while leaving Jakob's life points with 3900.

"I set two face downs and end my turn," Yusei finished while the effect of Synchro Striker Unit caused Shooting Star Dragon to lose 800 attack points, lowering it to 3500. He sped ahead so his duel runner was beside Jakob's. "This is our power towards the future. Synchro summon and Accel Synchro summon have stopped Yliaster's ambitions."

"Are you sure you wish to see my future that badly?" Jakob asked. "Thanks to you, my field is now reduced to burnt land." That reminded Yusei of the wasteland from the future vision. "Not to worry." Lester and Primo quickly joined him. "Aporia will fix that."

"Aporia? What is that?" the Jedi asked.

"Lester, Primo, and I are three beings that strive towards justice and bring hope into this world. The time has come for us to become one," Jakob explained vaguely. The infinity symbol over his mouth glowed followed by a larger one lighting up the sky again. Then the ones over Lester and Primo's eyes glowed as well. Jakob ejected and flew towards an infinity symbol.

Lester and Primo's bodies merge into Jakob's. His face now bore the three infinity symbols from Jakob's mouth, Primo's right eye, and Lester's left eye and form into a mask as the body changed form. As soon as the transformation was complete, the mask disappeared.

Yusei looked up in surprise as the new person came down while Lester's duel board and Primo's duel runner drove up alongside Jakob's duel runner. The three vehicles glowed and transformed before combining to create a new duel runner. The new person came down and parts of his body opened and revealed connection ports. An array of wires are sent from the duel runner and connected into the man and combined with his new vehicle and he fired his cards into their slots on the runner.

"Who are you?" Yusei asked in shock.

The new man opened his eyes and said, "I am Aporia, the Guardian of Despair."


	12. Choice Between Hope and Despair - Part 1

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 11: Choice Between Hope and Despair - Part 1

Yusei looked up in surprise as the new person came down while Lester's duel board and Primo's duel runner drove up alongside Jakob's duel runner. The three vehicles glowed and transformed before combining to create a new duel runner. The new person came down and parts of his body opened and revealed connection ports. An array of wires are sent from the duel runner and connected into the man and combined with his new vehicle and he fired his cards into their slots on the runner.

"Who are you?" Yusei asked in shock.

The new man opened his eyes and said, "I am Aporia, the Guardian of Despair. This is my true form. The Three Pure Nobles were separate aspects of a single being. You are as a duelist as he ascribed you to be. I had predicted that you would topple the Meklord Emperors, and with this, the Grand Design is now close to completion."

"What are you getting at?" Yusei asked.

Aporia ignored his opponent as he began his turn, "I activate Infinite Prison. By discarding Infinity Force, I can take Grand Core from my graveyard and set it as a spell card. I then use the second effect of Infinite Prison; By sending itself to the graveyard, I can take the cards set by its first effect and add them to my hand." Sky Core, Wise Core, and Grand Core were projected out of the Spell and Trap Card Zone and returned to Aporia's hand. "Total despair. A new power stronger than anything you have seen is about to descend. I activate Meklord Emperor Creation!" He threw the three Core cards into the air. "I am sending them to the graveyard to special summon my own ace monster: Meklord Astro Mekanikle (Attack 4000/ Defense 4000)!" In an instant, the Core cards combine and reform into the monster. It was a massive white and gold robot, which fired a beam into the sky causing lightning to appear and strike the city. "Heroes shall witness the power of Meklord Astro Mekanikle, the Devil of Despair! My monster can absorb a synchro monster once per turn, and increasing its attack by that of the absorbed synchro monster." Meklord Astro Mekanikle launched an array of beams at Shooting Star Dragon.

"I activate the effect of Shooting Star Dragon to remove itself from play," Yusei defended.

"I use another one of Mekanikle's effects. It can use the effect of any Meklord Emperor component I discard from my hand. I send Granel Guard 3, allowing Mekanikle to negate the activation of the effect of Shooting Star Dragon," Aporia fought and Yusei's monster was taken by Meklord Astro Mekanikle while the giant robot's attack rose to 7300.

' _Not good,'_ the Signer thought.

"I stand before you as the door to despair. You will come to understand the despair that I have tasted," Aporia told him. "For myself, in order to fight that despair, I came to this era as three separate entities."

"What do you mean by that?" Yusei asked.

"The reason I broke off into the Three Pure Nobles, knowns as Jakob, Lester and Primo…" he trailed off before Yusei and the others found themselves back in the future visions.

. . .

They looked to see a dome below them with someone inside. The man looked like Jakob dressed in tattered clothing. "Why did this happen?" the man asked.

"Jakob," Yusei muttered. But she then realized the truth. "No, it's Aporia."

The vision Aporia dropped to his knees. "Is anyone there?"

The present day Aporia began to narrate, "I witnessed the point in history where humanity met its end. I had thought I was the lone survivor and trembled in despair. But then three survivors came up to me: Z-One, Paradox, and Antinomy." Z-One held out his hand to Aporia. "We are the last survivors of this world; and as the only ones who live, we have an important mission to fulfill." The four survivors gathered in a building. Z-One held out his hand next to a stone, causing it to stand. "Our mission was to dispose of the core power of Ener-D, which took out the world, in order to create hope for the future. The four of us father the remainder of that power and sought to find a solution, which could restore mankind and the ruined world. However, that turned out to be reckless and naïve thinking. We performed endless experiments until I was the one of my friends left alive." As he explained this Antinomy and Paradox were seen in capsules with Aporia standing over them and Z-One in a machine. "I had been left alone and powerless again." The vision changed so that now Aporia was in a capsule and Z-One looking over him.

The vision Aporia said, "There is no future here. Z-One, please listen to what I have to say. My soul exists as three embodiments of despair: First, the despair I suffered after I lost those who loved me; Second, the despair I suffered after losing the one I loved; And thirdly, the despair I suffered after having no one left to love. Using the power I possess, I plan to split my soul into these three embodiments of despair. Z-One, use me as your servant. I am confident you will bring back hope and the future."

"I promise to do so," Z-One vowed and Aporia died with that.

. . .

Team 5Ds then returned once again to the current time and location. "Following that, I was reborn as three embodiments of despair. Under the names Lester, Primo, and Jakob, I created Yliaster in order to keep the promise I made to my friends; to prevent the downfall of the future. For that purpose, I plan to eliminate all traces of New Domino City's history. By destroying the source of Ener-D, I will save the future. And I will achieve this through Team New World's victory over Team 5Ds, which will cause the city to perish and the future to change," Aporia finished.

"I don't think so," Yusei disagreed.

"Now that my three embodiments of despair have joined back into one entity, you have no chance of victory. Witness the extent of my power born from despair!" Aporia called and launched a number of beams from his body, which struck and destroyed parts of the city, including a portion of the turbo duel circuit in front of them. The two of them ramped off the broken circuit and onto the road below.

Yusei looked up to see the building high above. "The only way to stop it is to win the duel," he remarked quietly.

Aporia then said returning his attention to the duel, "Since I have absorbed Shooting Star Dragon, you have no hope left. All that is left is the black pit of despair for you to experience."

As they drove through the streets, Aporia's large duel runner smashed through parked cars, sending them flying and causing citizens to run for cover. _'I need to get somewhere void of citizens,'_ he thought.

"Mekanikle, attack Yusei directly!" Aporia ordered.

As the attack headed for him, Yusei spotted a young girl up ahead in the middle of the road, crying for her mother. "I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to negate the attack!" he declared while pulling his duel runner to stop in front of the girl. Yusei told the girl, "Get out of here!" She didn't hesitate and once she was a safe distance away, Yusei hurried off. _'I need to lure Aporia into the old BAD area. There's no people to be harmed in that area,'_ he thought and lured Aporia onto the bridges.

"It is futile," Aporia stated. "I set a card. And when I end my turn, the effect of Mekanikle activates, sending the synchro monster I absorbed to the graveyard and you will be dealt with damage equal to the attack of the synchro monster. With you having 2800 and the attack of Shooting Star Dragon 3300, your demise is inevitable."

"I don't think so," Yusei argued. "This is why. I activate Wild Tornado! This destroys Shooting Star Dragon."

Aporia growled. "I end my turn," he finished.

Yusei drew his card to begin his turn. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2. By removing 7 speed counters, I can draw one card." He drew it. "I summon Salvagent (Attack 300/ Defense 800)! But it's not staying for long. By releasing it, I can negate the effect of a synchro monster in my graveyard and special summon it in defense mode. So I call back, Shooting Star Dragon (Attack 3300/ Defense 2500)! And due to another effect of Salvagent, it is no longer treated as a synchro monster. With that, I end my turn with two face downs."

Aporia laughed. "You called out a synchro monster by throwing away its effects?" he mocked. "My victory in this duel will bring forth destruction and within that destruction lies the door to a new future."

"There is no way a new future can be born from destruction," Yusei retorted.

"I will prove that it can, through the history Yliaster has created with their own hands." Aporia drew his card. "I use the effect of Speed World 2 to remove 7 speed counters and draw one card, as well. I send Wisel Attack 5 to the graveyard to give its effect to Mekanikle. So my monster can now inflict piercing damage equal to double the difference."

"I still have Scrap-Iron Scarecrow," Yusei reminded him.

"That is useless. Since Wisel Attack 5 has an attack, it prevents the activation of my opponent's trap cards when it attacks," Aporia retorted. "What do you think of the taste of despair?" He then laughed maniacally. "I will emerge victorious next turn and the Grand Design will be complete. When that happens, the limitless amounts of Ener-D will be released and the Divine Temple will appear in order to guide New Domino. The destruction will lead to the start of a new future free of despair!"

' _What can I do to destroy Meklord Astro Mekanikle?'_ he thought.

"We shall go to a new future," Aporia bragged.

Jack and Crow came up and met with Yusei by the duel. "What're you doing here?" he asked knowing both Jack and Crow were still hurt to some extent.

"We've come to join you," Jack told him.

"We still have a battle to finish," Crow added.

"It's too dangerous with you still injured from losing to Jakob," Yusei argued.

"We don't care," Crow told him. "This burden doesn't just belong to you. We should be sharing it. Especially with what's going on with your chest right now."

Yusei nodded slowly. _'Wait, I haven't used the card Jack left for me yet!'_ he realized. _'Since the cards contain the bonds between the three of us, I can't lose.'_


	13. Choice Between Hope and Despair - Part 2

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 12: Choice Between Hope and Despair - Part 2

"Meklord Astro Mekanikle, attack that Shooting Star Dragon! Cube of Despair!" Aporia ordered.

"I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Yusei called.

"That move is useless as the effect of Wisel Attack 5 negates and destroys trap cards," Aporia stated and his card was destroyed, but that didn't faze Yusei.

"But you forget, you can only destroy one trap card," he reminded my opponent. "I activate the card Jack left for me, Revenge Twin Soul! By removing two synchro monsters in my graveyard from play, Shooting Star Dragon gains defense equal to their combined levels time 100. So I remove Red Nova Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon, giving Shooting Star Dragon 2000 more defense points (Shooting Star Dragon: Defense 4500). And if the attacking monster's attack is lower than the target monster's defense, the attack monster is also destroyed." Shooting Star Dragon was hit by the blast and deflected it back at Mekanikle.

"I activate the effect of Mekanikle! By removing a Meklord Emperor component in my graveyard from play, I can negate its destruction," Aporia defended. "So I remove Granel Carrier." Mekanikle was saved but he still took damage dropping his life points to 3400. "I must admit, Yusei, you are stronger than I had thought. But resistance is futile. All will still be lost. I set a card face down and end my turn." And because of it, Revenge Twin Soul's effect wore off and returned Shooting Star Dragon's defense to 2500.

"It's time for a counterattack," Crow told Yusei.

Yusei nodded and drew his card. "First I activate the Speed Spell- Angel Baton! This allows me to draw two cards by sending one to the graveyard. And then I activate my face down, Dimension Voyage! This allows me to special summon as many of my removed from play synchro monsters as I can. So I call forth Red Nova Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon!" he declared and the dragons returned. "The turn those monsters are special special summoned, their effect are negated and cannot attack but are removed from play during the end phase."

"What are you planning to do with monsters that can't attack or use their effects?" Aporia wondered but Yusei ignored him.

"I switch Shooting Star Dragon to attack mode and activate Trust Chain! This allows me to increase the attack of Shooting Star Dragon by the total attack of all synchro monster I control, but prevents synchro monsters from attacking (Shooting Star Dragon: Attack 9600)," he continued.

"You've done it!" Jack exclaimed.

"Our bonds will bring us through despair," Crow added.

"No amount of despair can affect our bonds, which will carve a new future for ourselves," Yusei told them. "Shooting Star Dragon, attack Mekanikle!"

"Have you not realized yet that true despair cannot be beaten so easily?" Aporia asked him. "I activate Banishing Climb! It removes all synchro monsters from play." A hole cracked into the sky which sucked Red Nova Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon into it before it resealed itself. "And without them, your Shooting Star Dragon returns to 3300 attack."

"I activate the other effect of Trust Chain! By sending it to the graveyard, I can end the battle phase and cancel the attack," Yusei defended and his dragon returned to his side.

Aporia growled. "And that means Banishing Climb's effect wears off as well returning your other pathetic synchro monsters to the field." His friends' other monsters returned to the field. "End your turn quickly, Yusei. How will you deal with true despair?"

Yusei finished, "I set a card face down and end my turn."

"I activate the effect of Mekanikle to equip itself with Red Nova Dragon and gain its attack," Aporia declared and the monster was sucked into the machine while Meklord Astro Mekanikle's attack rose to 7500. "Next I send Granel Top 5 from my hand to the graveyard so my monster can gain its effects. And its effect allows me to absorb another synchro monster, like your Black-Winged Dragon!" Mekanikle's attack sprung up to 10,300. "Watch as I change the future! The victor is already decided. With 10,300 attack, one attack from Mekanikle is enough to end it all and the new future will be realized." He grinned confidently. "So, Mekanikle, attack Shooting Star Dragon!"

"I activate the effect of Guard Master!" Yusei played. "By removing it from my graveyard from play, I can change Shooting Star Dragon to defense mode and make it unable to be destroyed by battle." The attack is deflected from Shooting Star Dragon and hit a nearby building, damaging it.

"I activate another effect of Mekanikle! By sending a synchro monster equipped to it to the graveyard, I can inflict damage to you equal to the attack of that monster. So I send Red Nova Dragon to the graveyard (Meklord Astro Mekanikle: Attack 6800) and deal you 3500 points of damage!" Aporia fought

"I activate Hardship!" the Signer of the Head defended. "This lowers the attack and defense of Shooting Star Dragon to zero, but also lowers the effect damage inflicted by Mekanikle to zero."

"Then I shall use the effect of Mekanikle again, sending Black-Winged Dragon to the graveyard this time," Aporia declared.

' _Why would he do that? Hardship will only reduce the damage again,'_ he wondered. Black-Winged Dragon was sent to the graveyard lowering Aporia's monster back to 4000 attack points. "I activate Hardship once again to prevent that damage."

Once it resolved, though, Aporia called, "I activate Infinite Feast! This reequips Black-Winged Dragon and Red Nova Dragon to Mekanikle and inflicts 600 points of damage per monster to you for each time for each time Mekanikle has been equipped this turn."

"And since the two dragons were equipped during the Standby Phase and End Phase, Yusei will take 2400 points of damage," Jack calculated.

"I really wish Yusei had Black-Winged Dragon to negate that damage," Crow muttered.

"Eat this!" Aporia ordered angrily and the blast hit Yusei hard as his life points fell to 400. Yusei barely managed to regain control of his duel runner after the blast, the pain in his chest from before only worsening. "And now I gain another 600 life points." Aporia's life points returned to a full 4000. And with two synchro monsters equipped, Mekanikle was back to 10,300 attack points. "I end my turn there. Next turn will be when I settle anything."

' _With only 400 life points left, if I take anymore damage I'll lose,'_ he thought worried.

"Don't hesitate, Yusei," Jack told him. "Our bonds are not broken so easily."

"Our bonds will lead us to victory," Crow added.

Yusei looked at his glowing mark. _'I haven't lost hope,'_ he thought. _'This last card is my find hope. My cards, please answer my call.'_ The cards glowed and he drew. "I activate the effect of Hardship, destroying it and Shooting Star Dragon."

"Why would you destroy your own monster?" Aporia asked surprised.

"Because it also destroys all equip cards on the field, including Red Nova Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon," she answered and the attack of Mekanikle returned to its original 4000.

"Your field is now empty. You have no way to defeat my Meklord," Aporia told me.

"My turn isn't over. I summon Mystic Piper. And now I release it to draw a card and if that card is a monster, I can draw another," Yusei declared and he drew Sonic Chick, allowing him to draw again saying, "In my hand lies hope. I activate my face down, Ghoul Summoner! This revives a synchro monster destroyed this turn and equips it to this card. So I summon Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)!"

"Do you not get it? Synchro monsters are no match for Mekanikle," Aporia asked.

"I activate the other effect of Ghoul Summoner, allowing me to discard one card and revive another synchro monster and take damage equal to its attack," Yusei continued. "And I choose Red Nova Dragon (Attack 3500/ Defense 3000)."

"Are you really going to take that damage?" the opponent wondered.

"Black-Winged Dragon has an effect. It gains one Black Feather Counter and loses 700 attack, but also negates the damage," Crow pointed out and Black-Winged Dragon took the damage while its attack lowered to 2100.

"And Red Nova Dragon gains 500 attack for every tuner monster in the graveyard (Red Nova Dragon: Attack 4500)," Jack added.

"I then use the effect of Ghoul Summoner again. By discarding another card, I can revive Shooting Star Dragon (Attack 3300/ Defense 2500)," he called and Crow's dragon gained another counter while lowering to 1400 attack.

"Summoning three synchro monsters in one turn? Is this the true power of a Signer?" Aporia wondered in shock.

"The despair will be overpowered by hope," Yusei told him. "I then activate the effect of Black-Winged Dragon! By removing the two Black Feather Counters on it, I can reduce the attack of your Meklord Astro Mekanikle by 700 for each and inflict the same damage to you." The attack of Mekanikle and Aporia's life points fell to 2600 while Black-Winged Dragon returned to a normal 2800.

"And now Black-Winged Dragon has enough attack to surpass your monster," Crow pointed out.

"Black-Winged Dragon, attack Meklord Astro Mekanikle! Noble Stream!" Yusei ordered. Aporia's life points fell to 2400, though the opposing member used the effect of Mekanikle to remove a Meklord Emperor component in his graveyard from play, being Granel Guard, to prevent its destruction.

"Take the match, Yusei," Jack told him.

"Red Nova Dragon, attack Mekanikle as well! Burning Soul!" he continued. Aporia's life points fell to 500, but he removed Granel Attack from play to prevent his monster's destruction.

"I… I'm going to lose!" Aporia realized in utter shock.

"Our hope has surpassed your despair," Yusei proclaimed. "Shooting Star Dragon, finish this now! Attack with Stardust Mirage!" His dragon attacked and destroyed Mekanikle and finished off Aporia's life points.

"How could my plan fail?! It couldn't have after coming so far!" Aporia exclaimed devastated. He reached out his hand which suddenly blew up. Jack, Crow, and Yusei pulled over to the side of the road as Aporia's damaged runner sped past them and ramped into the water where it blew to pieces.


	14. A Call for Help

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 13: A Call for Help

"Our hope has surpassed your despair," Yusei proclaimed. "Shooting Star Dragon, finish this now! Attack with Stardust Mirage!" His dragon attacked and destroyed Mekanikle and finished off Aporia's life points.

"How could my plan fail?! It couldn't have after coming so far!" Aporia exclaimed devastated. He reached out his hand which suddenly blew up. Jack, Crow, and Yusei pulled over to the side of the road as Aporia's damaged runner sped past them and ramped into the water where it blew to pieces. The three Signers demounted their runners.

"Nice win, Yusei," Jack complimented.

"The three of us did it," he stated. "We should get back to our other friends." Jack and Crow nodded and they returned to the stadium.

The twins, Bruno, and Akiza rushed over to congratulate them once they arrived and they were quickly followed by Mina, Carly, and Stephanie who hurried to compliment Jack. Trudge, Team Ragnarok, and Elsworth also came and began to praise them.

"Thanks, guys," Yusei told them.

"Think it's over, Yusei?" Luna asked him.

He looked at the sky to see it clearing. "Yeah," he answered. "What we need to worry about now is keeping that future that Yliaster supposedly came from from happening."

"Right," they all agreed.

"We'll make sure of it," Crow assured and they all smiled in relief that it was all over.

" _Yusei!"_ called a voice in a language that only one understood.

They turned to see a strange looking man on a machine, that only five recognized as a Ketak, fly down. Yusei immediately was over to him called, _"Raron? What's wrong? What's happened?"_

" _A lot. We need you back, Yusei. Now!"_ Yusei's new friend responded.

" _Easy, Raron. Deep breaths. What's going on that's so bad?"_ he tried to calm.

" _Outsiders have come seeking the Heart of Atlantis,"_ Raron explained.

" _They got passed the Leviathan?"_ Yusei questioned.

" _Somehow, yes,"_ he answered. _"And not only that, you're father is growing weaker and weaker, Yusei. We need your help."_

" _Alright, I'm coming. I need to head to the junkyard not too far from here where my Ketak is. Meet me there. You'll see my Ketak, I'm sure,"_ Yusei told him.

" _Right,"_ Raron agreed. _"I'll see you there."_ He took off with that.

Yusei sighed. His friends weren't going to like this.

"What's going on, Yusei?" Akiza asked, "Who was that guy? What language were you speaking?"

"That guy was a good friend of mine from my original home," Yusei replied. "His name is Raron."

"What's your 'original home'? Satellite, right?" Leo questioned.

"No, Leo," Yusei answered as he got back on his duel runner. "My real home is Atlantis."

"Atlantis?" Luna questioned.

"Wait, Atlantis disappeared like ten thousand years ago. You can't possibly be from there," Akiza questioned.

"That machine that Raron was on comes from Atlantis," Yusei explained. "As does our crystals." He brought out his. "These are connected to the Heart of Atlantis. It gives us power, protection, and longevity. Because of this, Atlantis was saved from the Great Flood. And due to the longevity effect, believe it or not, I was there the day of the Great Flood that nearly destroyed us all."

"You were there?" Leo responded.

"Yes," Yusei answered. "And now people are coming for the Heart of Atlantis. I need to get back and stop them."

"Let us come with you, Yusei," Akiza suggested.

"No," Yusei denied. "This is Atlantis' fight. I was going to have to return anyone within a matter of months."

"Yusei, let us come," Crow ordered. "We can help."

Yusei sighed in defeat. "Fine," he agreed. "But we need to hurry. Raron is already waiting at Satellite where I hid my Ketak, which is what that flying machine Raron was riding is called." They nodded and got on their designated runners.

"I'll stay here and let Akiza's parents know what's going on," Bruno stated. "They'll need someone to explain it." Yusei nodded in respect.

"Yusei, we wish to tag along as well," Halldor stated. His two teammates nodded.

"Our Ketaks can barely take us and these guys. And the entrance is Atlantis is deep underwater. Without the protection of a crystal, you'll be killed."

"I can use a spell or something to protect them, Yusei," Akiza stated. "You know you'll need all the help you can get."

"Alright," he agreed. "Just be careful of the Leviathan."

"Leviathan?" Dragan questioned as they took off.

"Stick close to Raron and I and you'll be fine," Yusei replied. They gave a slow nod.

When they arrived at Yusei's Ketak, Raron was there waiting. He looked at Yusei questioning, so Yusei told him, _"I couldn't talk them out of coming. I'll need some help with giving them rides to Atlantis. Two of the three will be taking another ride to Atlantis. We'll need to protect them from the Leviathan. Besides, we could use their help to protect the Heart of Atlantis."_

Raron nodded. He looked at Yusei's friends. "I hope you can help us like Prince Yusei believes."

"Prince?" Leo questioned.

"My father's the king of Atlantis," Yusei explained. "I'm his next in line to take over. It's the reason why I had to return either way."

"Hold up, did he just speak Japanese?" Crow cut in.

"Atlantean dialect has roots from just about every country in the world, so we're fluent is just about every language in the world," Yusei explained. "Now we need to go. Leo, Luna, you'll be riding behind me with Crow. Akiza, Jack, you'll be riding with me." He looked at Team Ragnarok. "One of you can join Jack and Akiza behind me or stay together." Akiza summoned her dragon for them to ride.

"We'll ride together," Dragan decided.

Yusei nodded in respect. He looked at Akiza. "Are you ready to protect them once we enter the water?" She nodded. "Then let's go." They each got on their rides and took off.


	15. Welcome to Atlantis

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 14: Welcome to Atlantis

They flew over the oceans for a while. There was a silence in the air, but not too uncomfortable. The non-Atlanteans were looking around in awe as they sat. That's when the Atlanteans went down and darted towards the water.

Suddenly, the crystal's light grew and a cocoon enveloped all of the passengers on each Ketak. Akiza used her powers to protect Team Ragnarok and her dragon as they entered the water. When they entered the water, they found themselves able to breathe and stayed completely dry.

They darted through the waters for a bit. That's when they heard it. It sounded almost like a giant creature and metallic.

"What. Is that?" Jack wondered.

That's when something darted passed them in the water. It was huge and from what they were able to make out was shaped similar to a lobster. It only made the newcomers more nervous. That's when it came up beside them and swam beside them, like a guardian. It seemed on edge about Halldor and the others, though.

"What is that?" Akiza asked.

"That's the Leviathan," Yusei answered. "The Kings of Our Past created it to defend Atlantis from underwater danger and as a guard dog to the gateway to our city. The only way you would be able to get safe passage is if you had a crystal. Or were near someone with a crystal like Team Ragnarok is to us."

"Yusei, after we stop these outsiders and help your father, what'll you do?" Akiza asked.

"My father's already fading as he is. When I left, he was barely able to walk. Now it's been four years since then. I'm not sure how much longer he'll last," Yusei responded sadly. "So…" He gave a sad sigh. "So, I'm probably not going back to New Domino."

"What?!" Jack exclaimed.

"If my father isn't going to last much longer or if he dies while I'm there, I need to be there to lead immediately," Yusei told them. "If what Raron said about my father is true, I don't have time to help at New Domino anymore."

"You'll at least come see us, right?" Akiza asked.

"I'm honestly not sure, Akiza," Yusei replied. "My father won't be happy I brought you here. But I'll need you here to help my people if something goes wrong. My people trust me. My father told them of me leaving and my reasons right before I left and how long I should be expected. They encouraged me and told me to hurry back. So if they trust me that much, they'll trust who I trust."

"Yusei, how exactly can things 'go wrong'?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "Hopefully we won't find out. But if we do," They reached the end of the tunnel and came up through the surface, "just be ready."

The cocoons came down and they sped through the tunnels. Raron, Halldor, and Yusei nodded at each other. And when they came to the end of the tunnel, they saw something more beautiful than ever expected. A cavern encased in greenery with a waterfall falling from a land that had a city sitting in the middle. It was beautiful. And if they didn't know better, they might say they would be on the surface.

"It's beautiful," Akiza commented as they neared it.

"Welcome to Atlantis," Yusei stated.

They landed near what seemed to be a palace. Yusei immediately ran in and they followed. They saw an old man lying on a bed weakly.

Yusei turned to Raron. "Raron, let me talk with my father alone. Show the others around Atlantis until I call you." His friend nodded and guided the others out.

" _Father!"_ Yusei called in his native language. He kneeled next to the old man and grabbed his hand as his father reached for him.

" _My dear Yusei, I… thought I would never see you again,"_ his father responded.

" _I'm here, Father,"_ the son responded. _"What of these dangerous outsiders I've heard about? What can I do?"_

" _Do not let them find the crystal, Yusei,"_ his father ordered.

" _I don't even know where the crystal is. You hid it right after the Great Flood. I don't remember where or anything. So I don't know how I can stop them,"_ he responded.

" _Yusei, do not worry,"_ his father responded. _"I know you brought friends from the surface. Can you trust them with the knowledge of this place?"_

" _Yes, Father,"_ he answered. _"I trust them with my life. And they trust me with theirs."_

"Well, well, well," came a voice in English. They flipped to see some men with guns walking in. "Seems we have an invited 'outsider', don't we?"


	16. The Heart of Atlantis

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 15: The Heart of Atlantis

Yusei stood in front of his father protectively. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rorouk. You sure are protective of these people for someone looking like from the surface," the front man asked, no doubt in the lead. Yusei glared in warning. "Oh? You must be an Atlantean who went and spent some time on the surface. How did you like it? Much better than here, right?" He got closer.

"Back away," Yusei ordered.

Rorouk grabbed Yusei before the Signer could move. "Where is the crystal?"

"I don't know," Yusei answered. "All that I know is that it's said that 'the Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of its king.'"

"Oh, really? " Rorouk questioned.

One of his goons grabbed Yusei from him. Meanwhile, Rorouk went up to the old man who was sitting up. "Where is it, old man?"

"You will only destroy yourselves," the old man responded.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," Rorouk responded punched Yusei's father in stomach hard and made the old man collapse.

" _Father!"_ Yusei exclaimed impulsively, trying to reach him.

Rorouk pointed a gun at the man. "I'm going to count to ten. If you don't tell me by then…" He then began, "One, two…" he cocked the gun and Yusei struggled more, "nine, te-" He stopped as he noticed something. He looked at the water where it had a stone design in it. "'The Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of its king'…" He then realized it. "This is it!" He hurried towards the center of it. "We're in!" He looked at the men holding Yusei. "Bring him."

"Yusei!" called a voice. They turned to see Yusei's friends standing there.

"Well, this is an unexpected pleasure," Rorouk stated with a grin. He called to Yusei's friends. "Come see the crystal for yourselves! I'm sure it'll be quite the trip!"

" _Raron, get the people to safety. Now!"_ Yusei ordered. The Atlantean was obviously reluctant, but did so.

They forced Yusei towards where Rorouk was going. The other outsider friends hurried to get to Yusei. Rorouk stepped on the platform and it began to sink. The others jumped on as Rorouk and his goons forced Yusei onto it.

"This will be a great party," Rorouk stated.

"Let Yusei go!" Crow ordered.

"You don't even know what kind of power the crystal has," Akiza stated. "All we know is that it keeps these people alive. You take that away, you're killing everyone here."

"Not my problem," Rorouk replied.

They went deeper underground until they saw floating stones with blue glowing, carved faces edged into them slowly spinning around a blue light in the center. They came to a stop on the ground. Everyone was a bit tense, though Rorouk was pleased.

"Jackpot," the mercenary commented.

They looked at the floating objects, Yusei seeming in a bit of shock and awe. He muttered, "The Kings of Our Past…" He wanted to do what was customary and bow and say the rightful prayers, but he knew now wasn't the time, so he forced himself not to do so.

Rorouk walked up to the water's edge and kicked a pebble into the water. The light immediately turned red and voices began to murmur around them. The mercenaries began to figure out ways to get the crystal down while Yusei just stared at the crystal, while red spotlights went off in certain directions. Suddenly, the light turned blue as a beam landed on Yusei, his crystal floating in the air.

" _Mother…"_ Yusei whispered as he became taken over by the crystal.

"Yusei?" Luna called noticing his difference.

The beam of light followed him as Yusei slowly walked towards the water. Rorouk and the others looked in a bit of shock and awe.

"Yusei!" Leo called and he and his twin were being held back by their friends. "Yusei!"

As he reached the edge of the water, Yusei called quietly in Atlantean and with many voices behind his, _"All will be well. Be not afraid."_

Rorouk looked at Yusei's friends. "What did he say?"

"We don't speak Atlantean," Crow retorted.

Yusei then took a step onto the water and shocked everyone when he didn't sink. He walked _on top_ of it. He slowly walked until he was directly under the light. He continued to stare at the light. The stones tilted up so they were more horizontal and all the other spotlights singled out onto Yusei. The light shrunk until it hit Yusei's crystal.

There was a wave and the light surrounded him again before Yusei went unconscious. He was gently lifted off the water towards the light. He was eventually engulfed in the crystal and the stones enclosed the area. The stones began to spin faster and faster and wind began to blow hard while the light in the center grew brighter. Eventually, the light dimmed down and the stones slowed.

When it was dim enough, it revealed a blue, gem like, glowing figure of Yusei. He slowly descended down until he landed on the water with the water almost becoming solid under him. Akiza stepped to move forward, but Jack grabbed her.

"Yusei…" Akiza called worriedly. His eyes opened but they glowed and showed no signs of him in there. "Yusei…"

He began to walk towards them, the stone faces falling into the water. Any water that would've landed on Yusei fell away as if hitting a dome. Rorouk's goons used some metal and grabbed Yusei's crystallized body.

"No!" Leo exclaimed. "You can't do this!"

"Leo's right! You're killing all these people!" Crow added.

"How does that even seem right to you?" Jack asked.

Rorouk ignored them as they went back into the surface of Atlantis.


	17. Trust

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 16: Trust

The mercenaries put Yusei in a metal container and locked it tight. Other Atlanteans came out to see what happened in concern and Raron ran up. He began to fight to get closer, but the mercenary lackeys were keeping all of them back. They all glared as the life source of Atlanteans and their friend was brought onto a truck to be taken away.

"How is this not wrong to you?" Jack asked Rorouk. "You're wiping out an entire civilization for money? And that's it: money."

Rorouk walked up. "Ah, get off that act, kid. I know he may have been a good friend, but I'm sure he hid everything about himself, didn't he? And this is the price people who lie to their friends get."

"Commander, we're ready!" his second in command called.

"I'm coming," Rorouk called.

"This is wrong and you know it," Akiza stated.

"Ah, don't worry, girl. Everyone will be nice and happy in the end, I'm sure," Rorouk responded before driving off.

The water stopped flowing off the walls and they looked at everyone as their crystals stopped glowing. As they passed over the bridge completely, explosions went off destroying the bridge.

"Guys, we need to check on the king," Raron asked.

They nodded and hurried up. They saw a couple healers looking him over, but it was obvious Yusei's father wasn't going to make it. They walked over.

"How's he doing?" Dragan asked.

"Not good," a healer answered. "Internal bleeding. There's nothing more we can do."

"Why would people hurt others like this for money?" Luna asked.

"Sometimes the darkness of man can be driven to their minds," the king stated, shocking them he was awake. "And most of the time, it's due to power. That happened to me with the Crystal. And it only brought destruction to my people."

"The crystals," Akiza realized. She gently brought the man's gem into her hand, but didn't take it off him. "These… These crystals have some sort of healing energy. It's what keeps all these people alive for so long. If we-"

"No," the king intervened, covering the gem in her hand. "Where is my son?"

"Well, he… he…" Akiza trailed off, looking to the side followed by everyone else.

"He has been chosen, like his mother before him," the king responded.

"His mother?" Luna questioned.

"That's right. Yusei told us his mother was chosen by the crystal," Crow realized.

"Yes," the king agreed. "In times of danger, the crystal will choose a host, one of royal blood to protect itself and its people. No other will be accepted." He took his crystal back and looked at it. "Last time during the Great Flood, it was his mother. And now…" He formed a fist around his stone, "now, it is Yusei." He coughed a bit.

"Choose? So is this thing alive?" Broder asked.

"In a way," the king answered. "The crystal thrives in the collective emotions of all who came before us. In return, it provides power, protection, longevity… In my arrogance, I sought to use its power as a weapon of war, but its power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us, and led to our destruction."

"That's why you hid it beneath the city," Dragan realized.

"To keep history from repeating itself," Halldor followed.

"And to prevent Yusei from suffering the same fate as my beloved wife," the king added.

"What do you mean? What's going to happen to Yusei?" Akiza asked.

"If he remains bonded to the crystal, he could be lost to it forever," the king explained further, a sadness in his voice unlike any other. "The love of my son is all I have left. My burden would've become his when the time was right." He took off his crystal. "But now, it falls to you." He held out the stone to Akiza. "All of you."

"Us?" Jack repeated.

Akiza slowly took the gem and the king forced her to form her own fist around it. "Return the crystal." The king coughed a bit more. "Save Atlantis. Save my son." His grip slowly loosened as his last breath was released.

Raron, healers, and two guards there kneeled in respect, their heads down in sadness. The eight others looked down, eyes closed. Akiza opened her eyes and looked at the crystal in her hand.

Raron then asked, "What do you want to do?"

"What?" Akiza questioned.

"The king trusted you with his crystal, showing that he trusts you with the responsibility to get Yusei and the Heart of Atlantis back," one of the guards explained. "If he trusts you, we trust you. Besides, it was Yusei who brought you here. So, how do you plan on getting them back?"

Akiza then realized something, "Raron, how many people here know how to ride a Ketak?"

"It's kind of been mine and Yusei's little secret since we were kids," he answered, a bit nervous.

"Well, it's time to let that secret go public. Because we're going to need some of your people to help us get them back," Halldor stated.

"So we're going to ride the Ketaks and catch up to them," Raron realized. "Sounds good!"

"You guys want to help?" Jack asked the other two guards there. "There's no guarantee you'll come back alive, but we'll need the help."

"If it's a chance of saving Yusei and our people, we'll help any way we can," the second guard agreed while the first nodded.

"Alright," Crow stated happily. "Raron, think you could gather a few people to join us."

"Gladly," he agreed. They ran off to get ready.


	18. To Do What's Right

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 17: To Do What's Right

They had gathered quite the fleet of people and got them understanding how to ride the Ketaks very quickly. Akiza helped her friends that didn't have crystals turn theirs on. They quickly flew off towards the tunnel where Rorouk and the others were heading.

"Okay, we're going to come in low and fast," Crow stated. "Take them by surprise." They nodded.

They turned a corner where a balloon was taking off with Yusei's metal prison hanging off the bottom. They immediately began to attack while the mercenaries didn't hesitate to fire at the same time. The balloon was let off of place and it began to climb higher towards the surface.

A machine gun fired at Jack and he set his hand on a button which released a stream of energy from his Ketak's mouth, destroying a car. The others quickly followed his lead, giving them much better weapons against the offenders.

"Jack, Crow, we can't let that balloon reach the top of that shaft!" Akiza called as they headed towards it. They dodged some assaults a bit. "Jack, Crow, Luna, Leo, Raron, new plan. Jack, Crow Raron, find a way to unlock that hook. Leo, Luna, and I will be decoys. Team Ragnarok, do whatever you can to slow the balloon down."

"Alright," they agreed and they took off to do their assigned jobs.

Rorouk began firing at Akiza with a machine gun. Suddenly, Crow fired one of his Ketaks blasts and scraped Rorouk's arm. The lead mercenary looked at him with a glare and Crow gave him a mocking salute and grin.

His and his second in command noticed Raron, Jack, and Crow working on finding a way to get Yusei off. Rorouk's friend let loose some bombs and the three men had to stop and fly off before they were killed. Akiza only had one last idea. She only prayed it wouldn't kill her in the process.

Akiza darted towards one of the side balloons and jumped. She grabbed onto the balloon netting while her Ketak took out the balloon. Halldor and his teammates took out the other three balloons. As such, the balloon began to lose altitude. Rorouk's second in command pushed off all they could before they had nothing left. The two leaders spoke for a brief second before Rorouk threw her overboard.

Akiza got a side netting loose and swung down. She kicked Rorouk hard and they fell a bit, landing on the platform just above the fans.

"Well I have to hand it to you, girl. You're an even bigger pain in the neck than I would've expected," Rorouk stated as Akiza stood up. Rorouk kicked her and broke the bars. She caught the end while the railing bars got trapped between the blades, making the propellers stop. "I consider myself an even-headed man. It takes a lot to get under my skin. But congratulations, you just won the solid-gold doll."

Akiza grabbed onto the chains that were just above Yusei's metal crate. Suddenly, a gun went off and hit the main balloon, sending it in flames. That's when Rorouk came down with an axe making Akiza fall off the chain to dodge swing. She caught herself with her hovering over a window looking into Yusei's crate.

"Let Yusei go!" Akiza ordered.

"Hah! Getting tired, little girl?" Rorouk mocked. He swung down to hit her in the back, but she swung to the side, making the axe break the glass instead. "Well, that's a darn shame," Akiza grabbed a shard of glass that glowed from the Heart's residue, "because I'm just getting warmed up."

Rorouk grabbed Akiza by the neck with Akiza's friends calling to her. But she cut his arm with the glowing glass. Rorouk let go and Akiza hurried up higher away from Rorouk while dark blue, crystal rock began to cover his body from the cut. In certain areas, vein like designs of red were shown and the inside of his mouth and eyes glowed red.

Akiza looked from her spot just under the fans which had started again after the bar was cut from the pressure. She sighed in relief as Rorouk stayed frozen, as if he was gone. But her relief was short-lived, as he climbed up beside her, obviously in no control of himself by this point. Akiza accidently rolled back and caught herself on one side, however that also meant the side Rorouk was on went up and forced the man into the blades.

He was sent into shards which cut Yusei's crate free and she let go. They rolled down a hill until they came to a stop. Akiza looked up as the balloon came heading down as a fireball directly above them. She pushed Yusei's crate out of the way and narrowly dodged the burning remains.

"Are you okay, Akiza?" Crow asked.

"Fine," she answered. There was a rumbling sound, however, as cracks were formed in the earth.

"The volcano is erupting," Leo realized in worry and a bit of fear.

"We need to get out of here," Dragan stated.

"We need to get Yusei first," Jack cut in. He grabbed a chain that had a hook on both ends. He connected one to the top of Yusei's crate while he connected the other onto his Ketak. Akiza got on behind him and they took off.

However, as soon as they started to yank at the crate, the hoop attached to it broke. They flipped around in shock. Akiza jumped down against her friends warning, keeping hold of the chain. She avoided the small lava spews that came out here and there. She then wrapped the chain around the crate and hooked it together.

"Go!" she ordered. They didn't hesitate and took off as she grabbed onto the crate. They flew through the tunnels. Akiza struggled to hold on here and there and the rushing lava behind her didn't help. Eventually, however, they came out of the tunnels and back into the main entrance to Atlantis.

They arrived at the landing area and they set Yusei's crate down. Crow was immediately down and grabbed a spear handed to him. The volcano was obviously getting worse while Crow was trying to break it open.

Crow went at it one more time before a gap was made and the crate was split apart away from Yusei's form. He put his hands to out to the sides. The grooves and designs in the ground began to glow around him and the glow continued throughout the city as the crate pieces were sent away. Akiza and Crow hurriedly backed away, especially as the stones that once surrounded the crystal's original form came out from under the ground. They floated higher and higher into the cavern's sky.

The stones then began spinning so fast that it made a wall of light while the center became a ball again. A light shot out and hit something in the water. A giant, stone guardian like statue rose from underneath the water. The Crystal released more lights and hit more stone guardians. There was so many as well. It was a sight unlike any other.

Each guardian went to a position on the cliffs. They slammed their hands together before pulling them back and bringing forth a shield that expanded further and further. It soon covered the entire city. It wasn't a moment too soon, either. The lava finally escaped the walls and covered the entire dome around them. The lava quickly hardened and there was a few tense moments. But after a bit, cracks began formed through the rock. The rocks hit the walls and released the water as the guardians dropped their shields. As such, steam and dust was released throughout the area.

When it was beginning to clear, a light was shone down to the center of the plaza. Yusei's normal form was slowly and gently brought down within the light. Crow and Jack caught him and their friend released a breath before taking another in. It relieved all of them that he seemed to be alive.

Yusei's eyes slowly opened as he weakly stood up. "Guys…?" They nodded at him. He felt something in his hand and looked in it. It was a golden bracelet with two purple side stones and an azure blue, larger gem in the center. He brought it into his chest and closed his eyes tight.

Raron hurried up. "You okay, Yusei?"

"I'm fine, Raron," he assured. "Thanks." He looked at the bracelet again.

"What is that, Yusei?" Luna asked.

"I gave my mother this bracelet the day before she was taken by the crystal," he explained. That shocked them. They looked out as the fog cleared to reveal Atlantis with some areas that had been hidden by water revealed.

"This is even better than before," Akiza commented.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Yusei, you're staying here, aren't you?" Luna asked sadly.

He sighed and kneeled to her eye level. "Unfortunately. My father's gone. I have to take my place as king of Atlantis now. But, if you want, you can stay for a bit longer. So you can get to know Atlantis better. And maybe one day, we'll see each other again. Here or on the surface." They gave a small nod and followed them back.


	19. Goodbye

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Chapter 18: Goodbye

It was a couple days later. Yusei was in his old Atlantean garb with Raron by his side. He placed a crystal around each of his friends' necks. He slowly said, "Atlantis will honor all of your names forever. You did a lot for us. And we owe you a debt we will never be able to repay." They gave him a small smile.

"You don't need to ever repay us, Yusei," Crow responded.

"Crow's right," Luna agreed. "You're our friend. I just hope we'll see you again."

"With these crystals and the Ketaks we're trusting to you, you will be able to return here whenever you wish. If you bring family or friends, make sure they're those you can absolutely trust," Yusei told them with a small smile. "We don't want what happened with Rorouk to happen again."

"Right," they agreed.

"We'll see each other again soon," Yusei assured. "I know it. And when we do, Atlantis will welcome you. You saved me and my people at once, after all." Leo and Luna hugged Yusei tight. "I'll see you again, soon, guys." They gave a slow nod and let go. "Raron, want to help them out of here. Once they know how to get through the water one time, they won't have a problem with it when they come back." He nodded and they took off. "Goodbye, guys," Yusei whispered. "When we meet again, things will be a lot better, I'm sure."

 **I am SO SO SO sorry this is so short. I hate writing short chapters like this. This is probably the first time I've had a chapter this short. So I am sorry. I won't allow them to be this short again!**


	20. Epilogue

**A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS! ALL I OWN ARE MY OCS!**

Epilogue

Two years later, Atlantis was being restored to its former glory. Yusei kept the Crystal above Atlantis and it helped his people immensely. Yusei had made a stone face for his father and sent to it join the other kings of the past around the Crystal. He had also married a woman who was one of his closest friends before they became closer. The Atlanteans were truly taking their lives back and everything was becoming better and brighter.

At the moment, Yusei was flying around on his Ketak. He passed over the lava ring surrounding Atlantis now where obidalbedsugs, or lavadogs, were breaching the surface like dolphins. He laughed as he reached a section of land. One of the lavadogs jumped out and shook the lava off of it.

"Obby," Yusei laughed. "Come on, we need to get back." It hopped behind him and they took off. Yusei flew a bit higher and went up to his father's stone. He touched it in respect before heading down to the palace.

When he entered, he heard, "Yusei!"

He turned as his wife ran up and he held her in his arms. "Hey, Leayna. Things going okay?"

"Just fine," she answered with a small grin. He kissed her lightly and she responded in an instant.

When they pulled apart, Raron called running in, "Your highness!"

Yusei turned to him. "I told you, Raron, you can just call me Yusei. I'm your friend, after all." Raron nodded. "Now what's going on?"

"Outsiders are approaching," he answered.

"Have you taken a good look at them? They could be Akiza and the others," Yusei responded.

"No, we haven't," Raron answered. "We wanted to hear what you thought first."

"I'll go check it out," Yusei stated. He looked at his wife. "Leayna, keep an eye on things until I get back."

"Alright," she agreed. Yusei then ran off and took off on his Ketak.

He soon came near the newcomers and saw they were indeed his friends, including Team Ragnarok. He noticed Leo and Luna had brought Dexter and Akiza had brought her parents. He honestly believed Akiza brought her parents because her parents wouldn't let her come without them. He flew besides them and they smiled at him.

"Follow me," he called and they flew towards the palace.

"This place is amazing, Yusei!" Dexter praised.

"Ever since we brought the Heart of Atlantis up from below ground, things have been better than ever," he responded. "My people are thriving again and everything really has been doing well. We're restoring Atlantis to its former glory."

"I'm guessing your leadership skills have been helping with that," Crow commented.

"Leading isn't all that is needed to bring a change like this to Atlantis," Yusei responded. "Guidance from the past is needed as well." They flew up beside the stones and passed his father's. "The Kings of Our Past have much wisdom to share, even when they cannot speak."

"I suppose that is true, Yusei," Halldor agreed.

"It's hard to believe you can breathe in here when there is no fresh air coming in like on the surface," Hideo, Akiza father's, commented.

"Actually, the air is fresher here than it is on the surface," Yusei informed with a small grin.

They turned and landed at the palace. Leayna and Raron hurried out. They greeted the outsiders happily while other Atlanteans gathered around. A couple women went up to young men while a couple men went towards Akiza. Hideo seemed tense about it. Yusei smirked a bit at the sight. Leayna grabbed Yusei's hand and he grinned at her.

"So, who's she?" Broder asked.

"This is Leayna," Yusei answered. "She's my wife."

"Wife?!" they all exclaimed in shock while everyone else in the area laughed at their reaction.

"We were betrothed as little kids. Parents of the heir don't always betrothe their child unless they want to. But we were always close friends anyway," Leayna explained. "Only the parents can break off the engagement. With both of our parents gone, it couldn't be cut off. Not that we mind. And by customs, we had to marry as soon as Yusei took the throne."

"Yes, it was a bit reluctant, but it couldn't be changed," Yusei added.

"I guess we can understand then… kind of," Crow responded.

"Why don't we head inside and get you all something to eat?" Leayna suggested. "I'm sure you're hungry."

"Yeah, kind of," Dexter agreed a bit sheepish.

They followed the king and queen of Atlantis inside the palace which was just as amazing inside as the city was outside. They sat down on cushions on the ground by a table. Food that the others didn't really recognize was set in front of them.

"Don't worry, guys, it tastes better than you think," Yusei assured, noticing their apprehension.

They slowly took bites of their food, shocked at how right he was. The food was amazing. Yusei passed over some sides at Hideo's calling and they each tried the dishes presented to them. Obby ran over.

"What is that?" Dragan asked.

"An obidalbedsug, or a lavadog," Yusei answered and tossed a lava rock at the creature. It grabbed it and ate it quick. "His name's Obby. You'll see lavadogs swimming throughout the lava river around Atlantis."

"With all you've done here, Yusei, I'm sure your father and mother would be truly proud of you," Setsuko, Akiza's mother, complimented.

"Thanks, Mrs. Izinski. This is what my father wanted Atlantis to be like. He was just scared of the Heart's power after what happened with the Great Flood," he responded. "I only hope I'm making the right decision of keeping it above Atlantis."

"Having it above Atlantis brought it to what it is now," Dragan stated.

Akiza nodded. "He's right. I'm sure you've made the right choice."

"Thanks," Yusei responded with a soft grin. "By the way, what did you three think when you passed the Leviathan?"

"You mean that huge, mechanical lobster thing?" Dexter asked. Yusei nodded. "How did you even manage to build that?"

"My ancestors built it long ago. Just as the stories said, Atlantis' abilities far exceeded anything possible at the time or even now. It's thanks to our crystals as well," Yusei explained. "The Leviathan protects us from intruders that aren't welcomed. That's one of the reasons we gave Akiza and the others crystals. Without the crystals, the Leviathan would see you as enemies and would no doubt try to kill you."

"Did you build any more of those things?" Jack asked.

"I'm honestly not sure. I've only ever known of the Leviathan," Yusei replied. "There could be others out there, but I don't know for certain."

"Yusei," Luna called, "why don't you bring Atlantis back to the surface?" He looked at her, a bit confused by the sudden question.

Halldor nodded. "She's right. I'm sure you have the power, right? And if the Heart of Atlantis took you down here, it could take you back up. You could show the world a better way of living. I mean, the Crystal wasn't made to harm others. That's why it went against you nine thousand years ago. It was probably made to help and heal others, like it does with you guys and keeping you alive for so long."

"Perhaps," Yusei responded. "My main worry is people like Rorouk coming after the Crystal for money or power. If they used it for war, no one would be safe. I've been debating it for a while, but I'm not sure."

"I guess that makes sense," Jack agreed. "Especially after seeing what people like Rorouk are willing to do for a power like what the Crystal has."

"Has anything else popped up since we defeated Yliaster?" Yusei asked.

"Just a few duel tournaments, but nothing much," Jack answered. The king of Atlantis nodded.

"Wish you could've dueled in them, Yusei," Crow stated.

"I do, too," he responded. "How have Martha and the others been since I left?"

"They've been wondering how you've been. We told them about what happened and they were shocked, but seemed to understand," Akiza explained.

"I would've said goodbye in person if I had the chance," Yusei responded. "At least, they understand why I couldn't."

"Hey, when you have to rule a whole civilization, I don't think you have a lot of times to take breaks and come see us," Leo stated with a grin. They all gave a small laugh of agreement.

"But you really have made a huge difference to Atlantis, Yusei," Setsuko stated. "I don't know what it seemed like before, but I'm sure it wasn't as amazing as it is now."

"As long as the Heart of Atlantis is above ground, I'm sure things will continue to get better," Leayna chimed in. "I mean, it's made such a difference to the people."

"I know it has," Yusei agreed, looking at her with a grin.

"You guys are really close, aren't you?" Akiza asked.

"We had been close friends for as long as I can remember. I guess after a bit, we realized how close we really were," Yusei explained. "If it weren't for that, I'm not sure we'd be so comfortable around each other after being forced to marry."

"That makes sense a bit," Crow agreed.

"So, out of curiosity, how long are you planning to stay in Atlantis?" Leayna asked. "I doubt you would come all this way to say hi, have a bit of food, and then leave."

"We were hoping we could stay a couple days," Halldor stated.

"If that's alright, at least," Luna added.

"Of course," Yusei agreed. "We have some spare rooms you can use until you wish to leave. I told you guys before, you'll always be welcomed in Atlantis. Especially after what you did for us."

"Hey, Yusei, think you could show us around a bit?" Dexter asked. "I mean, it's one thing to see this place from the air, but on foot?"

"I'd love to show you around," he agreed making them smile. "You're lucky I don't have a lot to do today. Reconstructions already well underway, so it's not much I need to do at the moment. At the most, it's a few disputes. But those are rare nowadays."

"With the peace Atlantis is at, it doesn't surprise me that disputes are rare," Halldor responded.

Yusei nodded with a soft smile. He looked at his wife. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure," she agreed with a small smile. Obby came running up, doing his style of barking. "We should probably get Obby back to the lava river, though. I'll go do that first." She stood up and walked away with Obby following happily.

"Are those things loyal or something?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Yusei answered. "You have to gain their trust, which is usually best right after their born. But after that, they'll be loyal to you. Can be a bit protective as well, even at a young age. Obby is still pretty young. I can show you his mother later on." They nodded.

"How did you make the Ketaks anyway, Yusei?" Dexter asked. "I mean, talk about advanced."

Yusei chuckled. "It's a bit difficult to explain. But the crystals and the Heart of Atlantis helps a great deal," he responded. "I can talk to you about it while I show you around the city."

"Why don't we go then?" Hideo suggested. "I am eager to see what a ten thousand year old lost empire has become." The others nodded in agreement.

"Alright," Yusei agreed. He stood up followed by the others. "Follow me. There's a lot to show." They left with that.

. . .

After those few days, Akiza and her parents decided they wanted to move to Atlantis. They saw a life here that they wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. A good life. Yusei agreed and gave Akiza and her parents a place to stay as well as giving her parents crystals. It didn't take long before Jack and Crow followed in staying in Atlantis.

Leo and Luna stayed living on the surface until they were old enough to move out. But whenever they came to Atlantis to visit, they would study Atlantean language and learn what they could. Once they were old enough to move out, they came to Atlantis as well. Luna became a teacher of the language at Atlantis while Leo went on to help out teaching people how to ride Ketaks.

Yusei was pleased to see what Atlantis and his friends had become in such a short time. A new future was upon them. He debated for a few years on whether to bring Atlantis back to the surface. And in the end, he decided to do so.

When he brought the city to the surface, his people were shocked to see the Sun for the first time. A young girl thought it was a crystal at first. But his people soon came to see the surface world as something new. They were a bit nervous, but excited as well.

The rest of the world was shocked at the arrival of Atlantis. But when Yusei explained how people had come for the power of the Heart of Atlantis and the harm it could do, the world's officials agreed to help protect it as long as Yusei gave them knowledge on things like the Ketaks and everything that he knew about the history of Atlantis. Yusei agreed to, but not any knowledge on weaponry, which they agreed to as well.

Certain people who weren't Atlanteans were given crystals, like Martha, Trudge, and Mina. But most either had to show they deserved it or at least meant no harm with it. However, most people in the world settled to not having a crystal which would extend their life thousands of years, which Yusei respected quite a bit.

After negotiations and everything in between was finished, the world entered a new era of pure peace for once. Things were finding a new light with a hope to guide the way. And everyone knew it would stay that way for thousands of years to come.


End file.
